


The Noir to Ladybug

by GoldenWolfX



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Loses His Ring, Angst with a Happy Ending, Betrayal, Broken Promises, Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, Duel Miraculous Wielder, Emotionally Repressed, Evil Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, F/F, F/M, Heavy Angst, Hurt Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Jealousy, Lila Gets Exposed Eventually, Mama Tikki, New Best Friend Squad, Non-Consensual Touching, Papa Plagg, Plagg Cares, Protective Kagami Tsurugi, Protective Plagg, Rating May Change, References to Depression, Supportive Tikki, tags not in order
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2020-09-01 08:07:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 74,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20254921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenWolfX/pseuds/GoldenWolfX
Summary: When Chat Noir doesn't take No for an answer and finally shows it, Tikki, Plagg and Master Fu band together to solve the problem: Unfortunately most of Ladybugs allies prove themselves to no longer be fully trustworthy in Marinette's eyes to become permanent holders.Fortunately, a Certain Bourgeois and Tsurugi along with some familiar new faces, prove they can be the solution Ladybug needs to form a more stable team.





	1. Ephemeral P.1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay...so...this fic happened, it started as a thought, and then...just evolved. The angst will be very heavy in this fic.
> 
> Also, please forgive any typos.

Marinette is stricken with fear, she felt scared, afraid of the one person she shouldn't have to be afraid of, her first partner. If Rena and Carapace weren't present, who knows what may have happened when she refused to return Chats forceful kiss, she felt...disgusting, she felt exposed and vulnerable, she felt violated.

Luckily Rena saw what was happening, and finally recognized how uncomfortable Ladybug was, she stepped in, she practically ripped the boy off of the spotted hero and yelled, only to be met with Chats retort that 'The Ladybug and Black Cat are meant to be, and there was nothing that would get between them any longer.

Carapace was shaken to his core, he'd never seen this side to Chat, he knew just like everyone else that Chat Noir had feelings for Ladybug, but he would have never imagined that he'd forcibly act on it. It broke his heart to see Ladybug look so...afraid and teary eyed. "Yo Dude! What's your prob!", Carapace got between Rena comforting Ladybug and Chat Noir, his hand was out in front of him, as if signaling for Chat to stay away.

Chat scoffed, "Mind your business _dude_! You're all getting in the way of true love.", he said as he stepped forwards. He was annoyed, angry that everyone just kept interfering. Father always told him that if something was worth it, to go after it and not give up until it was his, whether it be an object, a dream...or a person. He was determined to make Ladybug see that they were meant to be, that no matter how much Ladybug tried to fight it, she would love him too, she had to.

Ladybug clenched her jaw shut tightly, gritting her teeth, she'd reached her point, she'd been trying to be patient, she'd been trying so hard to just endure Chat's non-stop pestering. "Look, Chat…", she started, ready to send him down to hell, ready to just…she sucked in a breath and released it, calming herself, "Chat, let's talk more later, okay. We can't do this here, not with them here...please.", she submitted, buckling under his hard gaze, she didn't argue back, she just allowed for him to gain his way, she forced her expression to soften. "Let's meet at the usual spot okay.", she suggested with a sigh, she gently pushed out from Rena's protective embrace.

Chat seemed to lightened up as the spotted hero spoke calmly, he accepted her want to meet up later. "Sure, thing.", he said much more calmly and softly, affectionately.

Horror flashed across Rena and Carapace's faces, they looked taken aback and shocked. Rena was going to speak up and object, but before she could, Ladybug gave her an odd look, as if telling to just let it go. Rena looked down to the roof's tiles and said nothing.

But that didn't stop Carapace from trying, "Wha- Dude-", he fell silent when Rena suddenly approached him and yanked him towards her by his arm, mumbling a soft 'let's go'

Both teens left, leaving Ladybug and Chat behind.

"You better be there.", he said, his words came out playful, but his gaze held an odd look to them, almost threatening and malicious.

Ladybug faked a smile, she waved, "Of course, we can do our patrol after too.", she added another suggestion, which Chat nodded in agreement. "Bug out.", she said as she threw her yoyo off the roof and jumped off, leaving. She felt relief flooding her, she felt the emotion come over her so overwhelmingly hard, it was almost drowning her, she didn't expect this to happen, she didn't expect Chat to escalate his advances, especially in front of Alya and Nino. Things have been hard enough on her in her civilian life, and now it seemed her hero life was being smothered as well. She felt trapped and helpless, she felt obligated to just be life's punching bag. If she wasn't dealing with Lila, then she was dealing with Chat. Her eyes watered up as she felt a pang of pain make her chest ache and tighten.

"Ladybug!", Rena's voice almost brought relief. Almost.

Ladybug held her tears at bay, she felt herself growing numb. She sucked in a breath as she dropped into the alley where Alya and Nino stood, both wearing looks of concern. It made her chest sink. "Hey, sorry about the wait-", she started to apologize, but was suddenly cut off by arms wrapping around her, she felt Alya trembling against her, she could hear Alya's breath shaking. Ladybug stiffened, it felt odd to be held these days, physical contact was something she always used to have and initiate, back when she had friends, back when Chat wasn't always trying to kiss her or make advances. She was forgetting how to react.

It's been three months since Lila ripped her friends away from her, it's been four months since Chat has begun his quest to win her affections.

Another pair of arms wrapped around them, Nino had joined in. "You can't...you can't meet him tonight.", he said, his voice was soft, so soft and broken. "He'll hurt you, please don't go."

Ladybug remained with her arms hanging by her sides, she was physically stunned in place, but words managed to come out of her lips. "I don't have a choice.", she whispered.

Ladybug felt Alya's fingers digging into her back, "You have a choice, you always do.", Alya consoled, "You don't have to do this, at least, not alone, let me go with you.", the brunette offers, her arms wrapped tighter around her idol.

Ladybug felt the numbness wash over, she felt pain coming back in full force, she didn't want to break down, not here, not in Alya's arms, because then it'd hurt when she would inevitably hurt again and Alya wasn't there anymore to comfort her. Oh how Ladybug yearned to be comforted and told that everything would be okay, how Marinette mourns the loss of their friendship everyday. She grieves. She hurts. She's all alone.

For a moment, Ladybug closes her eyes and relaxes, allows for the warmth that Nino and Alya are giving to her to just wrap around her and bring her temporary comfort and security. She yearns for this moment to last forever. But she knows she has things to do, places to be, thing to prepare for. She releases a heavy sigh and starts to pull away from the arms that provided a short amount of protection.

Alya and Nino were both reluctant to let the girl go, both wore sad and pain filled expression, they both felt their heart drop to their stomachs, they felt sick, they knew what Chat Noir was capable of now, they saw it with their eyes, and it completely broke their image of the whole 'perfect' Ladybug and Chat Noir partnership/friendship. The way the news always made them out to be this perfect match just meant for each other, if only they knew the truth.

"Ladybug-", Alya's voice was desperate, she was going to beg, beg Ladybug to bring company, but just as she said the spotted hero's name, Ladybug reached her hands out, holding her hands out to receive the wooden boxes that contained the miraculouses.

Nino released a heavy breath and silently placed the box into Ladybugs hand. His downcast expression said it all. His lips pressed into a tight line.

Alya's lips trembled. "Ladybug-", she tried to speak again.

"I would appreciate if word didn't get out...about Chat.", Ladybug cut her off, her empty right hand still waiting for Alya to drop the wooden box into it, her expression was cold, distant. Internally, she felt sick for wanting to protect Chat's image, but that feeling disappeared as she chalked her request up to her not wanting others to smudge her reputation as well.

Alya winced, her gaze was broken, she released a soft shaky sigh and nodded, her lips pressed into a tight line as well, and she finally gave the teen the box.

"Thank you.", Ladybug said in a stiff tone, she then turned around and threw her yoyo up and jumped out of the alley, disappearing.

* * *

"-not now Tikki!", Marinette yelled before Tikki could even speak, all it took was for Tikki to look at her for her to know that Tikki was going to scold her, because these days, Tikki has been doing that quite often, pestering her about seeing Fu and telling him about Chat, pestering her about telling her parents about Lila and how horrible her school life became.

Tikki floated backward slightly, taken aback, she felt a mix of emotions washing over her, from sadness to anger and to helplessness. She knew Marinette was taking on too much, and today was the tipping point, tonight would be the point of no return. "You can't see Chat Noir!", Tikki yelled in frustration, her gaze was hard, yet her eyes were watery, "I refuse to allow you a way over there.", Tikki suddenly threatened.

Marinette's expression fell, "What?"

"I won't eat, I won't rest. I will not recharge only for you to fall into that stupid boys hands where he'll only hurt you.", Tikki winced as she suddenly fell down, Marinette quickly caught her in her palm.

"You can't-", Marinette started to retort, "What if an akuma attacks, what if-"

"You'll be killed.", Tikki said suddenly as she curled up in Marinette's hand, "If this goes on, the boy will destroy the balance, You two are supposed to be in sync, you are both supposed to be two halves of a whole. He is starting to eclipse you, Marinette.", Tikki started to whimper softly. "I refuse to lose another Ladybug so soon, especially if I can protect you."

Marinette felt her eyes starting to tear up, she felt helpless, useless and just so lost, "There's nothing we can do...I have to...I have to just...think about the people.", Marinette sucked in a shaky wet breath, tears streamed down her cheeks. She had a duty, a mission. She was Ladybug, she was supposed to be selfless and brave, she had to put the people's needs ahead of her own, and if being with Chat made Paris safer and the fight against Hawk Moth more effective. Then so be it.

Tikki looked disgusted, she felt sickened, she wouldn't have ever thought that Plaggs chosen would be this foul of a person, she didn't expect this, it broke her heart, seeing that Marinette was willing to completely destroy herself as a person if it meant that their chances of recovering the peacock and butterfly miraculous was much more realistic. Tikki knew that Marinette's unhappiness would attribute to the destruction of the very balance that Adrien was already destroying. The stupid boy was eclipsing her master, and if it continued, there would be no going back, people would be put in danger and both Marinette and Adrien would lose their lives. Tikki felt anger towards Adrien, the stupid boy would take her chosen away from her. She couldn't let this happen, she couldn't let this go on.

"Marinette, we must see the Guardian. Please, I'm begging you.", Tikki squeaked sadly.

Marinette swallowed thickly, "There's nothing he'll be able to do, all he'll do is tell me what I'm already going to do. Stay with Chat-", her voice cracked.

Tikki sniffled, "Please, trust me. Please.", she begged, her begging was getting weaker.

"Okay, okay.", Marinette gave in, she felt shame coming over her, accompanied by embarrassment, what would Master Fu think of her? Would he side with Chat?

* * *

"Kid, what are you doing?", Plagg spoke as he emerged when Chat Noir said those two words, 'Claws In'. The Kwami was feeling on edge, upset and an odd feeling of dislike towards Adrien was starting to bloom inside of him, he never usually disliked his masters, or liked them...but Adrien was different, he grew a little fond of the boy.

But there was a line.

Adrien ignored the Kwami, a smile on his face, "She'll love me, she has to.", he merely said to himself as he began to pace in the spacious room, thinking of what to do, if maybe he should bring flowers for tonight.

Plagg had been growing more and more afraid of Adrien, the kwami had seen how engrossed Adrien had become with winning Ladybugs affections. He knew that isolation shaped people in different ways, and Adrien's father didn't help at all, but surely Adrien would know right from wrong, at least, Plagg kept hoping, believing that Adrien would open his eyes and see how his ways are driving a wedge between himself and Ladybug. Plagg felt a pang of pain for Marinette, if only the girl knew, if only his master knew. Where Marinette loved Adrien, Adrien loved Ladybug. 'Oh Tikki.', he thought to himself, guilt washing over him, a part of him wanted to advise the boy, but the other part of him was afraid of how Adrien would react. He tried to advise him once, but Adrien grew defensive and ignored him. 'Oh kid.'

Adrien plopped down onto his bed, he laid onto his back, "Ladybug's as good as mine, I'll give her whatever she wants, we'll be together-"

The boy was falling, spiraling.

Plagg couldn't bear to hear it anymore, each declaration Adrien made, was like a knife being driven into his chest, it was confirmation that Marinette was going to get hurt, and that Tikki would get hurt as well, and he couldn't- wouldn't let that happen. His expression hardened, he had to protect Marinette and Tikki, even if it meant that he weakened himself in a way that jeopardized his life, he cared for Adrien, but he pushed those feelings away, the balance was going to tip. The more Adrien acted on his feelings for Ladybug, the more he started to eclipse Tikki's chosen, the more likely that Marinette would lose the ability to use her lucky charm and call out onto the magical ladybugs. Marinette was more and more likely to get caught in the irreversible side effects of a broken balance.

"Hey, kid. Mind if I go out for a bit, I wanna hang out with my fellow kwamis.", Plagg asked carefully.

Adrien without care merely gave the kwami permission, "Sure, whatever, just be back by 8, okay?", the blonde haired boy turned onto his side, giving his back to Plagg. "We have the patrol with Milady."

Plagg wore a look of disgust, his expression hardened, 'Don't worry, Tikki, I'll find a way to protect your beloved chosen. I promise.', his eyes scanning over the boy, "Yeah, of course.", he said, forcing a calm tone.

The kwami then turned around towards the open window and without looking back, Plagg left, flying to the only person who could fix the damage that Adrien was causing before Marinette would inevitably succumb. He knew that Tikki loved Marinette, just as she did her many other wielders, he knew that once Tikki loved, she loved unconditionally and deeply, the Ladybug kwami was sensitive and sincere, the depth of her love amazed all the other kwamis, even himself. He didn't understand it, after all, he knew that humans didn't really have longevity, he knew that only pain would come from loving a human, Yet, Tikki constantly opened herself up to the pain, mourning and grieving all of her chosen. It was a cycle Tikki subjected herself too willingly to. Why? He and the majority of the other fellow kwamis didn't understand and wouldn't, because neither of them were willing to allow their feelings to play a role in their mission to preserve the balance of all life.

The ones that did understand Tikki, would only rarely love their human wielders once their wielders proved to be worth the pain. Trixx, Wayzz, Pollen and Longg, were all Kwamis that once mourned and grieved the loss of their previous masters.

Plagg frowned heavily, feelings only ever made things complicated, from what he's seen among the humans, they're a mess, all of them.

Love, it was such a powerful force. For it was capable of doing two things, creating and destroying.


	2. Ephemeral P.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette visits Fu. She, Tikki, Plagg, Wayzz and Fu come up with a plan to put an end to Chat's ways; Chat Noir eagerly awaits 'his' lady, but not all goes the way he expects.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't expect such positive feedback, glad the fic has peaked your interests. :)
> 
> Please excuse any mistakes I may have made.

She's nervous, each step she takes towards where the guardian resides gets heavier and heavier. Tikki encourages her every step of the way. She can't help but feel herself wanting to just spin around on her heel and run the opposite direction and run back home. 'Keep it together.', Marinette thinks to herself, she sucks in a shaky breath and exhales. She feels her hands shaking.

Tikki in merely sitting inside the warm jacket pocket, her masters body warmth radiates onto her, keeping her warm. "You're doing the right thing, Marinette, you'll see.", Tikki says. She knows, she knows what must be done in this situation, it's happened before, to a previous master she loved with all her heart, sadly, it was too late for anything to be done,the Black Cat of that era had obliterated the balance, the destruction of the balance led to a 200 year era drowned in famine, disease and despair for their homeland, the very homeland that both Chosens were from and wanted to protect. Tikki had the chance to act now, and if it meant hurting herself in the process, then so bit it.

The Dupain-Cheng weekly nods, her eyes forward, she can see the place just across the street, she swallows thickly as she keeps walking, she makes it to the crosswalk and hesitates.

"Mari.", the Kwami cajoled. Coaxing the teen to keep going.

"Okay, okay.", Marinette sighed and finally crossed the street, she held her bag's strap tightly, her knuckles grew white. When finally made it to the door, she fidgeted for a moment. 'You can do this.', she encourages herself, and she reaches out, and pushes the door, she slips in.

* * *

"You okay?", Nino spoke softly, he sat on the edge of Alya's bed, fiddling with his fingers a little nervously.

The brunette nodded, "I just...I feel like shit.", brown eyes grew watery. The teen turned to her boyfriend, her expression was glum. How long had Chat been acting like that with Ladybug? Alya couldn't fathom it, she couldn't stomach it, it made her feel sick, she knew problems like that existed in the real world, she knew men took advantage of women on the daily, whether in a small way, or a really traumatic big way, but she never expected Ladybug and Chat Noir to have those problems as well, or rather, expect Chat to act like those imbeciles and hurt Ladybug. "I don't know why she doesn't want us there tonight, he's going to hurt her.", she breathed out.

Nino frowned heavily, his gaze hardened in disgust, he too had trouble digesting Chat Noir's true colors, he felt this need to protect Ladybug, he didn't know why or understand it completely, but he knew it would only be right for him to feel angry at what Chat had done. "Ladybug's smart, I'm sure she's coming up with something.", he said, wanting to comfort Alya, he knew what she was thinking, he knew that Alya was thinking the worst of the situation. He hoped that Chat wouldn't hurt Ladybug.

Alya looked away, balling her fists up, "She seemed set on going to see him tonight, Nino. Despite knowing full well what Chat can do to her...she'll be all alone with him.", the brunette couldn't bear the thought of what would happen. She knew that if Chat was okay with force kissing Ladybug in front of them, he would be capable of doing much more than that when no one else was around, he'd hurt her, he would take something from Ladybug that Ladybug clearly didn't want to give, at least, not to him. "That bastard will...he'll…", Alya pressed her lips into a tight line.

Nino clenched his jaw, he wrapped an arm around Alya, pulling her into his side, "Relax.", he said softly. He hated Chat, he had considered Chat to be a cool dude, but after this...no, Nino could only see Chat as a fraud, "Don't worry."

"How can I not worry, dammit. She's just going to do whatever he wants.", Alya trembled slightly, tears running down her cheeks, "I mean...she defended him, she told us to not say anything, she's slipping into just accepting what he's doing to her.", she wrapped her arms around herself and leaned into Nino's side, sniffling as she cried softly, the image she had of her idol and the joking Cat, shattered, and it was a little too much to take.

The boy held the girl closer, "Sh.", he hushed softly, "I'm sure Ladybug will find a way, she has her reasons, and I'm sure she only spoke to calm him down, she also doesn't want people to get in their business either, just...relax, She'll be fine, I'm sure of it.", but the boy wasn't sure, he just wanted Alya to relax, the knowledge of what was really going on, hurt him too, but he had to keep it together, he had to try and believe that Ladybug was going to do something that didn't end up with her getting hurt.

Both teens held onto each other.

* * *

She can't read his expression from where she's sitting and a part of her doesn't want to. She and Tikki were separated, Master Fu saw Tikki in her weakened state, and took her off her hands and before Marinette could follow them, Tikki spoke up weakly, telling Fu that they needed to talk in private without her, The Man gave her an odd look, Marinette smiled brokenly and shrugged, turning away to give them space. She's been sitting in the wooden chair for the past 15 minutes, she couldn't hear them from where she was, she could only see them. She opted to just look down at her hands and wait.

"Marinette.", Master Fu's voice brought Marinette out of her thoughts. "Please come.", he spoke again.

Marinette looked up, she found the old man gesturing with a hand, beckoning her to come to where he and Tikki were, she sucked in a breath, she felt apprehension wash over her, she exhaled as she got up from the chair, her legs felt like jelly, she swore she could feel her heart thumping in her head, she could hear her heart racing, thumping hard. The look of hesitation must have been clear on her face because Master Fu wore a rather gentle look, sympathetic even. She finally started to walk, forcing her legs to move and carry her to the next room, she slowly, but surely made to the table, she looked at both Fu and a more energetic Tikki who was munching on some crackers beside a sympathetic looking Wayzz.

"Please sit, Marinette.", Fu says softly, his expression only grows more sympathetic.

Marinette silently sits, she glances at both Kwamis, Wayzz and Tikki both give her soft smiles. It feels reassuring. Marinette sighs softly and brings her eyes to meet Fu's own, she knows he's got something to say, but she wasn't sure just what it was.

"First, let me start by apologizing.", he starts, and he could see that Marinette is taken aback by how her shoulders twitched suddenly. He sighs deeply, he feels a mix of emotions fill him, Tikki had filled him in, told him about Chat's actions and how he's been relentlessly forcing Marinette to reciprocate his feelings. It made him feel guilty, because he felt as if he'd done something that made Marinette feel as if she had to carry this burden all on her own, he knew she was strong willed and capable, but he felt that if she had the help, why not ask for it?

Marinette looked away for a moment, shame filled her.

"Mari, please, talk.", Tikki spoke, she put her cracker down and slowly made her way to her chosen, a chosen she loved with all her heart, a chosen that was so full of life and didn't deserve what was happening to her. "Master Fu wants to help.", she sat in front of Marinette, "Please.", she gazed encouragingly at her master.

The teen released a shaky exhale and finally turned to the kwami, her vision blurred slightly, she reached her hands up, placing them on the table, she gathered the Kwami into her hands and held her. "What do you want me to do?", Marinette asked the man that sat across from her but her eyes remained on the kwami.

"Nothing.", He said.

Nothing. Marinette thought, she looked up to meet his gaze, she raised her eyebrows.

The man continued, "You will do nothing, because I will deal with him.", He said bluntly, his expression changed to one of disappointment, "This is my mess, I put you in harms way, the more we interacted the more I knew you were meant to be the Ladybug, but as for Chat Noir, It started to become clear to me that I took a chance on the boy, I thought he'd make a fine Black Cat, but I was mistaken, and I cannot allow for you to further be put in harms way.", Fu sighed deeply. "The more I saw of you, the more I just knew I made the right choice, the power didn't get to you, you put the mission ahead of your feelings, you are pure of heart and sure, you may make a mistake here and there, but that doesn't negate all the good you do, you prioritize. The boy however, the more I saw of him, the more I started to see his need to be put ahead of the mission, the more I saw that he had selfish tendencies, the more I saw that he wasn't really up to taking responsibility.", Fu turned to Wayzz, he was going to speak, but just as he started, an Unexpected guest arrived.

"Fu!", Came that familiar voice accompanied by the familiar sight of the Black Cat Kwami flying through the small glass window.

"Plagg?!", Tikki yelled in surprise as she left the comfort of her master's hands, she flew up to greet the kwami of destruction.

Plagg looked surprised, "Kid.", Plagg saw Marinette, he merely took Tikki's hand into his own and he immediately flew down towards the teen, "I'm so sorry.", Plagg apologized, his expression wasn't smug like it usually was.

Everyone in the room was taken aback by the Kwamis apology.

The Black Cat kwami sighed deeply and released Tikki's hand, "I promise I won't let him hurt you.", Plagg turned to Tikki, "I tried to talk to him, I tried to get him to see what he was doing was wrong, I've been trying but he just shuts me down or ignores me each time."

Master Fu sighed again, "The boy has truly spiraled.", he rose a hand to rub his chin, eyes narrowing.

Wayzz groaned, "What are we going to do? The balance cannot further tip.", The turtle kwami finally spoke up, he floated up and made his way to where Tikki and Plagg were.

Marinette folded her arms over her chest, "I'm supposed to meet him tonight.", she said.

Plagg nearly hisses, "So what! Don't go, Kid.", the kwami advised as he got closer to the teen, "Look, the boy wasn't always like this, he started to get out of control after the whole oblivio thing. He wouldn't have done this before, but now it's like he just has it in his mind that you and him are meant to be.", Plagg frowned heavily, "Don't go."

Wayzz hummed softly, as if an idea had come to him.

Tikki looked on between her master and her longtime friend, Plagg. "Marinette will not go.", Tikki cut in, she turned to face the teen directly, "Right? You won't go?", she said, asking her master, wanting the girl to just agree with her.

Marinette didn't answer the Kwami, and that made Tikki and Plagg start to draw closer to her and smother her in lectures. Plagg of all Kwamis. Plagg.

"Don't be stupid, kid-", Plagg said.

"Marinette, you're being reckless-", Tikki said.

Both Kwamis talking over each other, scolding the usually logical and collected teen.

Fu rubbed his chin, her closed his eyes as he sucked in a breath, "Settle down you two.", he huffed out, opening his eyes, arms crossed over his chest, a firm expression on his face, he knew it fell onto him to retrieve the ring of The Black Cat, he wasn't sure how to do it, but he had to figure out before tonight's 'meeting'.

The Dupain-Cheng groaned a bit, when both Kwamis relaxed only to settle close to her, both sat idly, waiting for something to be said. "It's 7, we start patrolling at 8, Master.", Marinette sighed out for the thousandth time, she felt that time was running out, a plan had to be set, or she wouldn't leave Master Fu's place, "Look, I think...we should work this together, I mean, the way things are going, I don't think Chat's going to just hand over his ring.", the ravenette said bluntly, she knew damn well that Chat would probably flee with it, the boy was proving to be childish and selfish these days, he always felt a need to get his way, this Marinette had started to see. Thankfully she never revealed herself to him. 'Thank God.', she thinks to herself, it's the only relief that she knows is true, because at least she wouldn't have to worry about Chat coming after her civilian persona, that would be a nightmare.

The man nodded, he agreed with Marinette, the boy wouldn't just hand it over, he would be difficult to deal with, difficult to unarm and strip off the miraculous. He wasn't strong, even if he used Wayzz, how would he keep up with the boy, if the boy feels threatened. If only he was a few years younger, the old man thinks.

Wayzz sighs and finally pipes up, believing he has a solution. "What about the other Miraculous Wielders?", The Kwami asks, The boy and that girl, we could even throw Pollen back in and have that Chloé girl stun the boy."

Master Fu hums, clearly thinking that their problems have been solved.

Tikki turned to Marinette, and Marinette met her gaze. "There's one problem with that plan.", Tikki sighs.

Plagg, Wayzz and Master Fu all raise their eyebrows.

"I don't trust, Nino and Alya anymore, As for Chloé...well, she's a bit of a loose canon, but I do trust her more than those two.", Marinette reveals, and it hurts. The Dupain-Cheng had a tough time being around those two ever since what happened three months ago, ever since Alya snapped at her in front of everyone in class and 'dissed' her. She was labeled a bully, a fake, and a liar. The brunette had tore her heart in two that day. She had reduced the amount of times she used both Alya and Nino and when she did, she used one of them, never both, today had been an odd day, her lucky charm signalled for her to use them both, and she did only because her lucky charm had given her the signs to do so, and as much as it hurt to work beside them, she felt a little grateful that she wasn't alone when Chat decided that he was going to 'take' what was 'his'.

The man looked a little taken aback, "What happened?", he asks.

The teen falls silent for a moment, she looks away, thinking about everything that's gone terribly wrong in her life so far, it makes her heart ache.

Tikki wears a glum look. The Kwami knew why Marinette lost trust in her allies, she's been there every step of the way, she's comforted the teen as much as she could these past few months, wiping her tears away and encouraging her to be strong. It breaks her heart a little more and more everyday, how could life frown upon her chosen like this? Why was this happening, why was Marinette being put through all of this. She sometimes wondered why life had a tendency to pick on the good people. "Tell him.", she encourages softly.

Plagg sits silently, he knows very well what's been happening in Marinette's school life, he was there, he couldn't say anything out loud of course, cause then he'd be revealing Adrien's identity, and the last thing he wanted was for things to spin even more out of control. The kwami wore a hard expression suddenly as a name crosses his mind, 'Lila', he thinks, the girl was foul, she was evil, deceptive and cruel, Plagg had mixed feelings about how his chosen was handling things regarding that girl, how Adrien just abandoned Marinette, leaving the poor girl to become Lila's punching bag. He frowned heavily.

The teen swallows thickly, she returns her gaze to the man and starts from the beginning, she tells him all about Lila, about how the girl with all her lies had taken everything from her, leaving her stranded and alone, in fact, her old friends had started to retaliate against her in Lila's defense, despite her not doing anything. Marinette's ocean blue eyes started to water up, lashes started to glisten, she continues and tells him about that one time that Alya had bumped into her and pushed her down into the locker room, all the while Lila watched from behind, a malicious grin on her lips, Lila always watched from behind the people that hurt her, and she always wore that twisted triumphant grin. "Alya hates me, and Nino's her boyfriend, so he's on her side...despite everyone knowing me so well…they still...", hot tears suddenly started to roll down pink cheeks, a soft sob escaped passed trembling pink lips, the teen released a shaky breath as she brought a hand to her mouth, not wanting to just let all of her pent up hurt come up all at once.

"Alya betrayed my master the most, it impacted her harder than the betrayal of her other friends.", Tikki says, as she drew closer to the hand that remained on the table, she cuddled into it, wanting to comfort her master.

Fu is completely struck speechless, he was starting to see it. The cracks in Marinette's person. Marinette had always seemed put together when she stopped by to see him, she never gave off the vibe that something was wrong, the Dupain-Cheng had hid her problems and pain well. She had been suffering in silence, carrying a lot of pain from both sides of her life.

Wayzz glances at Tikki and Plagg, he sees that the situation is straining them as well as Marinette. He feels the need to say something of encouragement, but finds that he can't, he finds that maybe it isn't his place, he doesn't understand the depth of Marinette and her problems.

The ravenette forces herself to get it together, she collects herself as quickly as she can, she uses an arm and wipes her face with her sleeve, soft sobs and whimpers still escaped passed her uncovered mouth as she desperately dries her face with her sleeve.

Master Fu swallows thickly, "You've been so good, Marinette.", He says softly, "It's only a matter of time before fortune finally shines upon you, and trust me, it will.", the man inhales through his nose and exhales through his mouth, "You're strong and good Marinette. I know you're hurting, but that hurt is only temporary. Things will get better.", the man smiled softly.

The teen sucked in a wet breath, she huffed and puffed softly as she tried to catch her breath, trying to calm herself, she felt a little better.

'Fortune will shine on you soon, kid.', Plagg couldn't help but think to himself, he knew Marinette was good, he knew that she would always put the mission before ever putting herself, Marinette was selfless and strong willed, clever and witty, she was kind and sincere. The fools that betrayed her and left her behind, will regret what they've done, sooner or later, Lila will slip, because like all lies, they always come to light eventually.

Eyes flickered to the wooden clock, "It's 7:45.", Marinette says as she clears her throat and finally starts to relax, gathering herself, preparing herself. "What are we going to?"

Master Fu was unsure of what they were going to do, Marinette didn't trust her allies anymore, except for Chloé, but that girl was a whole other matter, this situation would have to be dealt with precision. They had one chance to strip Adrien of the miraculous- and suddenly an idea hits him. "The book!", he exclaims, he snaps his fingers and stands up quickly, he runs to the table where the miracle box was, next to it is his phone, the one he used to take photos of the book with. "I think I saw something that made me question a lot of things.", he says as he unlocks his phone and starts to go through the gallery.

Marinette raises an eyebrow and stands up, "What do you mean?", she asks.

"The book had many things, from ingredients to give the miraculouses new powers to even redesigning the jewels.", the man explains, "I haven't fully translated everything, but from a section that I did translate, I saw a mixture powerful enough to put even a miraculous wielder to sleep, it's virtually harmless.", Fu said as he kept swiping his thumb across the screen rapidly.

Marinette hummed, interested in what Fu may have up his sleeve. She starts to make her way towards the man, the Kwamis remain on the table.

"Here it is.", Master Fu says, "I should have all the ingredients here, ever since I took the pictures I've been stocking up on plenty of exotic ingredients to make the magic work.", he explains as he starts to walk off to another room.

The Dupain-Cheng follows him, trailing behind him, "How are you going to get him to willingly take the mixture?", she asks curiously, she knew Chat would be wary of ingesting anything given to him. She crossed her arms over her chest as she waited for a reply.

The man chuckled disheartedly, "He won't have a choice.", his tone seemed to changed along with his entire demeanor.

Their plan was going to change a lot of things.

* * *

He's been waiting for her, a rose in hand, he arrived a little early, Plagg returned to him around 7:50 and it took him only 5 minutes to get to the place he and Ladybug were supposed to meet up at. He was eager to meet up with his lady. However, time was starting to tick by, he patiently waited, keeping track of the time, glancing at his staff he saw that it was now 8:30. She was half an hour late. The boy groaned, feeling irritation starting to come over him, had he been stood up again? The thought came into his head, and it just gnawed at him as each minute started to tick by.

"Chaton!"

The sound of that familiar voice calling out to him made his smile return to his lips, he felt his heart starting to thump hard and fast, he turned around and found Ladybug landing a few feet away. "Hey, Lovebug, you're late.", he said teasingly, his eyes bright and his pearly white teeth showing through the smile, he started to step towards the girl of his dreams, he reached out the hand that held the rose and he held it out, offering the rose to Ladybug. "Here.", he said, grinning sheepishly.

Ladybug tilts her head to the side, she stares at the rose and at Chat, she feels a pang of guilt rack through her body for a moment, it's fleeting. She knows very well why it has to be this way, why he has to be stripped like this. Once upon a time, she loved him, but her love was different. She felt hurt starting to bubble in her chest and in her stomach, she felt the familiar sensation of knots building, she feels like she's losing a friend, she feels like she's losing the only friend she had left.

She would be all alone.

Chat raises an eyebrow, his smile falters when he sees the unmistakable sight of tears shining in his partner's eyes, "Milad-UNGH!", his words cut off by a surprised exhale due to him feeling a sensation of sharp stinging suddenly appear in his back, he felt as though someone had poked him with something sharp.

Ladybugs eyes grow wide, she breaks her gaze off of Chat and looks behind him to see Master Fu with a blow gun at the end of the roof, half his body still hiding behind the brick wall.

Chat grunts, he feels exhaustion starting to come over him, he drops the rose and gets to his hands and knees, groaning as his vision starts to blur and darken, everything gets distorted. "Lady...bug…", he breathes out slowly.

Master Fu clicks his tongue and brings the mouthpiece of the blow gun up to his lips and blows two more times, sending two more darts into the boys back, each one hits.

"Ungh?!", Chat releases a huff and finally falls belly down on the cement.

There's a silence, feelings of dread and guilt start to creep over Marinette as she stands over her once partner's unconscious body, tears roll down her cheeks, this was it, she was alone, she lost everything, everyone. She lost all of her friends in a span of months. Sure Chat was annoying, but deep down she knew why she put up with him, she was lonely, he was someone to talk to, someone she really wanted to keep as a friend. All those late night talks they had as Ladybug and Chat Noir, and even as Marinette and Chat Noir, were things she would miss.

Master Fu released a shaky sigh, Wayzz floated beside the man, he wore a solemn look. The atmosphere darkened and was filled with this tension that felt a little overwhelming. Fu put the blow gun down as he stepped out of his hiding spot from behind a large cement wall. "Marinette.", he spoke softly, his gaze softened.

The teen's shoulders trembled, her legs gave out from under her, she fell onto her knees beside Chat and started to cry softly. She was crumbling. "Oh Chaton.", she cried softly, whimpering and sobbing. She mourns and grieves the death of another friendship.

Wayzz and the Guardian both say nothing, they remain a few feet away, letting the Ladybug have this moment.

Wang Fu knew that he'd have to help Marinette pick up the pieces after this, he knew that she'd need him to guide her, and he'll do just that, he'll be there, he'll help mold her once she collects the pieces of herself that she's been losing for months. Marinette was young, she was growing everyday, the last thing he wanted was for the Ladybug duties to shatter her irreversibly, he knew that Marinette was alone in this, it wasn't like she could just tell her parents what was going on, all the stress she takes on and the fights she puts herself through, so this is where he'll come in, He'll be there for Ladybug and Marinette, he can be the ear that listens to her problems, and he'll advise her in any way he can. He was a Guardian, and he had to make sure to give Marinette guidance so that she could be the best Ladybug and best Marinette she could be.

Marinette like Tikki, is prone to loving deeply. It's no wonder why the both of them seem to perfectly fit together. They both grieve when love is lost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, here's some angst. (Just the tip of the iceberg)
> 
> Feel free to drop comments/critiques/questions.


	3. Do You Feel It? P.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The class is but a fraction what it was, to some, there is no change, to others, there has been a lot: Some are standing on the inside, while others stand and observe from the outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, here's an update. A little short, but I have my reasons.
> 
> Please excuse any mistakes I may have made.

The changes that had quickly swept over the class hardly impacted her, she had rarely socialized with her stupid classmates anyways. The only thing that did change was that she suddenly lived in a world where Marinette Dupain-Cheng was the class bully. It was a shock, but it happened...it was still happening. Chloé Bourgeois would have expected the Césaire to stand up for the Dupain-Cheng, not stand up to her. The whole class had turned into Lila's patsys, all pf them turned their backs on Marinette and those who tried to even disagree with Lila.

The balance of the class had been disrupted, everything was out of sync and just wrong. Nothing was the same.

But Chloé wasn't the only one to recognize that something was wrong and that Lila wasn't all she made herself out to be. There were others among the class, three others beside Chloé and Marinette, the only person that had it in her to try and call Lila out. Rose, Juleka and Kim. The trio of course hid among their classmates, not wanting to give themselves away as people that see through Lila's lies. Like Chloé, the trio opted to keep their mouths shut, especially after seeing what was done to Marinette when she called Lila out, which only resulted in Alya calling her out in front of everyone. The hurt in Marinette's eyes, put the four students on edge. There was also Adrien, but the stupid boy was a patsy despite knowing what Lila truly was, he didn't really count.

It was frustrating. The four opted to just stick as spectators looking in from the outside.

And today was supposed to just be another one of those day.

Chloé notices it first. She notices the way Marinette sluggishly walks into class, a broken lost expression on her face, her eyes were glazed over with this strange far off look. She can't help but get this unsettling feeling inside of her, it makes her gut twist into knots. She sighs softly as she breaks her gaze off the teen when the girl walks passed her table to get to the back where she sat and just as she faces forwards, she hears the unmistakable sound of a thump and a grunt accompanied by the sound of books hitting the floor. She turned back around and finds the Dupain-Cheng on the floor, her books were scattered on the floor.

"Walk much?", Alix snickers.

And that's all it takes for Chloé to know that Alix had purposely tripped the Baker girl.

Marinette doesn't reply, she doesn't speak, she just gets to her hands and knees, her arms shaking as she keeps her gaze to the floor. There's a moment of silence in the class, everything and everyone stills, all eyes on Marinette.

There's a tugging, a gnawing in the back of Chloé's head, telling her to get up and help the poor girl to her feet, to do something other than just stare at what had to be a broken girl at this point. To put her pride aside and help the girl she's been fighting with for the majority of their childhood. She sighs softly and she makes to move, just as her body turns, Juleka takes pity first, and gets up faster. The girl gets beside Marinette, risking future backlash and begins to help the teen up to her feet. Chloé begins to chew the inside of her cheek, she feels a pang of guilt in her chest.

"It's fine, Juleka, thanks.", Marinette finally speaks, she brings her gaze up and gives the teen a small broken smile, bags under her watery dull eyes. Juleka flinches and merely nods, stepping away as the girl stood up.

Chloé allows her eyes to wonder the class, she observes the looks everyone wore. Alya looked detached, Nino looked a little concerned, maybe because he practically grew up with Marinette. Others smirked, Lila among them. Then there was Kim, Juleka and Rose, the trio wore glum expressions, Rose's lips were pressed into a tight line, clearly stopping herself from comforting the ravenette and as for Kim, the boy looked as though he wanted to yell at Alix, but he refrained. The blonde couldn't help but suddenly notice that Adrien was missing today as she looked around the room, but he had suddenly became insignificant to her, the boy had been preoccupied with something else as of late, ignoring everything else. She ceased talking with him for a bit.

"I got your books.", Kim suddenly piped up, he got up from his seat and bent down to get the book, he felt bad, and it got the best of him. He knew Marinette, he knew who she was, sure at first he ditched her like everyone else, but then Lila slipped up in a lie that only he would know the truth to, so after that, he withdrew himself from the group that followed Lila around like a bunch of puppies and he just kept to himself. Regretting the fact that he had left Marinette alone, but also afraid to do anything that may indicate that he was on her side. "I'll put them on your table.", Kim said as he stood up with the books in his arms already walking to the table in the back.

Marinette murmurs a soft 'Thanks', she sighs and she feels her chest ache, she feels overwhelmed. She turns around suddenly and walks the opposite direction of where she was supposed to go, Kim and Juleka look baffled and both try to reach out, their hands twitched by their sides as they stopped themselves from doing so, their eyebrows furrowed. The Dupain-Cheng merely walks back out the classroom.

"She's being dramatic.", Alya mumbles, arms crossed over her chest. The brunette rolls her eyes with a frown on her lips.

Nino winces, his face says something else. His face disagrees with Alya. He doesn't really talk about Marinette or join in conversations about her, it was obvious that he wanted to avoid the subject as a whole. A part of him still holding onto the disbelief that Marinette wasn't as kind as they all thought she was.

Other students start to murmur among themselves. Juleka sits beside Rose again, she looks a little distraught. Kim looks down to the books he sat at the table, he wears a forlorn expression. The boy quietly makes it back to his seat.

The heiress groans to herself internally, she couldn't shake the unsettling feeling she was getting, she didn't know why. Without another thought, she finally stood up. She collected her things and leaves her table, she walked straight out the door, ignoring the questions being thrown at her.

* * *

"_Such...despair and sadness_.", Hawk Moth frowns softly, he clutches his chest, he feels the depth of the dread and despair, it hurts, it's a pain that almost feels refreshing. He sighs deeply, and closes his eyes, swallowing thickly, he exhales, "_You will get the justice you so desperately desire Lady Woe._". He dubs a name before he sends an akuma out, his eyes open and he removes his hand from his chest, reaching out, a white butterfly lands in his hand, he evilises it, "_Go my little Akuma, help this girl make the happiness of others, her own!"_

* * *

Marinette sighs and whimpers softly, her grief seems to only grow more and more the more time she spends time in that classroom. Her emotions are already out of whack, the last thing she needed was to be akumatized. Especially now that she wore both the ring of destruction and the earrings of creation. She doesn't know exactly what Fu was thinking when he gave her the ring after he took it from Chat last night.

"Calm yourself, kid.", Plagg moves from inside the jacket.

"Marinette, relax, take it easy.", Tikki said with a concerned voice.

Marinette huffed and puffed, gathering her breath, trying to calm down, she wrapped her arms around herself and in doing so, it caused both kwamis to be pressed against her chest. "I'm trying.", she whimpered. "I'm trying so hard."

Plagg sighs as he finds himself pinned against the girls chest, he could hear her heart thumping hard and fast, he wore a sympathetic gaze. The Kwami turned to Tikki and found her cuddling against their master. Plagg blushed slightly, he internally groaned. Of course he ends up sharing a Master with the most loving kwami.

The teen takes a few minutes to stop crying, but she remains at sniffling.

"They're jerks, and jerks always get a taste of their own medicine.", Plagg says as he feels the girl relaxing, her arms loosening. He moves a little upwards to be positioned out of the teen's arms way if she decided to hug herself again. "It's hard now, but you'll come out on top at the end of the day."

"Plagg's right, Mari, everything will even out, eventually.", Tikki chimed in.

Marinette nodded and sucked in a breath, she exhaled it, she felt some weight fall off of her, but she knew that it wasn't all of it.

* * *

"_What_?", the man is taken aback by the sensation of his target relaxing, he sighs deeply, and narrows his eyes. "_No matter, the depth of that kind of hurt doesn't just go away, I'm sure she'll break_.". Hawk Moth taps his cane onto the floor, he knew that the girl would no doubt spiral back into her emotions, he knew that she was practically overflowing with despair and sadness. It was only a matter of time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope it's been a good read!
> 
> Feel free to drop comments/critiques/question.


	4. Do You Feel It? P.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette makes a mistake; Tikki suggests they start looking for a new Black Cat sooner rather than later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's an update 
> 
> Please forgive any typos or mistakes I may have made.

Marinette lives in a world where she is in the wrong, where she is mean and 'vicious'. Slowly the world she lives in has become dull and grey. She now lives in a world where her taste buds stopped registering the taste of foods that she once loved and enjoyed gratefully. She found that she couldn't enjoy her favorite flavors anymore, that everything she ate, would just taste bland and dull. Things would sometimes taste like nothing. Among the new things she started to notice, she realized that her days seemed to just drag on, it was a cycle, she did the same things everyday and it made her days feel long. People didn't talk to her, everyone just ignored her, isolated her. No one wanted to be involved with her, everyone shunned her and shut her out, leaving her to wander aimlessly through her classes as an outsider.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng found that her precious creativity left her. She found that the sweets her father made for her tasted like nothing. The teen also couldn't help but notice something else, these days it felt like she was looking through a filtered lens, everything looked grey or a cold detached color, nothing looked lively or vibrant as it used to.

Everything right, had gone wrong. Unfairly wrong.

And it was getting to her. She was starting to grow tired and angry.

It wasn't fair.

* * *

Marinette had spent the past 15 minutes hiding out in the least visited bathroom, relieved that this school had a least visited spot at all. She had been trying to collect herself, preparing herself to return to class. But she found it harder than she thought. Each time the thought of returning back to class flashed across her mind, she internally panicked. She was frustrated, she felt her grief turning into...anger. Anger because all of her classmates whom had considered her a friend once, didn't actually know her like she thought they did. They turned on her, all of them. Each and every one of them.

"Mari.", Tikki spoke in a soft tone.

Marinette's expression darkened, her broken expression was replaced with a hardened look. "What.", she said.

Plagg sighed as he sat on the ground, observing the human that he was going to be sharing with Tikki temporarily until Marinette found a new Black Cat she could 'trust'. Plagg couldn't help but feel that at the rate things were going, a person that Marinette could 'trust', wouldn't be popping up any time soon. Plagg had a feeling that he would be stuck with Marinette for a little longer than Master Fu estimated. Plagg knew the human girl was capable of being a great miraculous wielder, she was Tikki's chosen after all, and both got along perfectly...until this mess started. It seemed that Marinette was reaching the end of her rope, and that worried Plagg.

After all, Marinette now had the two most powerful miraculouses in her possession.

Plagg couldn't help but wonder what exactly Fu was thinking when he turned the ring over to Marinette after her took it from Adrien's unconscious body. He was a little anxious, but if Tikki trusted Marinette, then he had to too, Tikki was a great judge of character, she never let him down before.

It seemed only time would tell where this mess would take them.

* * *

Chloé sighed deeply, she'd been trying to track the Dupain-Cheng down. She couldn't shake the odd feeling that was causing her stomach to get knotty, she couldn't help but feel this gnawing feeling tug at her the moment she saw the Baker girl sluggishly enter the class. While she and the girl never saw eye to eye and fought for the majority of the time they've known each other, she couldn't help but feel like someone had punched her in the gut the day she saw Alya push Marinette down to the ground in the locker room back when Lila first started accusing Marinette of 'bullying' her

The way all their peers gathered around to shun the Dupain-Cheng, all of them teaming up against her, belittling her. It made Chloé feel sick.

Alix was more cruel than she ever thought the girl was. The teen was a huge Lila supporter, along with Alya, the two of them put together, obliterated Marinette in seconds.

Chloé never saw it coming, she expected the class to back their 'everyday Ladybug', but she was wrong, everyone just fell under Lila's spell, all of them doing whatever she wanted. Everyone chose a girl they hardly knew over a girl they've known since they were children. The heiress frowned heavily as she walked the halls of the school, going bathroom to bathroom, going out of her way to find the girl she had once deemed an enemy. A soft sigh escaped passed parted lips, she approached the last girls bathroom and walks up to the door, she hesitates for a moment, she swallows thickly and she finally pushes the door and enters it, and as she does, she sees the person she's been looking for, sitting on the floor, hugging her knees, a distant look in her tired looking eyes.

"Dupain-Cheng.". The Bourgeois says the name softly, slowly she walks towards the girl.

Marinette doesn't move, she merely hums, her lips pressed into a tight line.

Chloé feels a pang in her chest, she winces slightly. Her eyes roaming over the teens disheveled appearance, after a few moments of staring at the girl on the floor, she sighs and tears her eyes off the girl, raising a hand to anxiously rub her arm. "Are you okay?", Chloé asks hesitantly. She returns her gaze to the teen and finds Marinette looking at her with a watery gaze. She feels another pang in her chest, she feels her stomach tighten, she feels nauseous.

The ravenette stares at the blonde for a few silent moments. The Dupain-Cheng wears an expression Chloé cannot read. "Leave me alone.", She finally mutters, her eyes growing more watery.

The blonde's lips part and close, she thinks before she speaks, taking in the fact that she doesn't know how delicate Marinette has become. Her eyes searching those watery dull blue eyes that used to be filled with a fierce lively gaze. Chloé softened her gaze, she relaxes and gets her thoughts and words together. "Marinette.", she starts. The name feels so foreign as it slipped passed her lips. She sees said girl's shoulders twitch for a moment.

Marinette's expression shifts to one of confusion, her eyes narrowed slightly, almost as if she was trying to see through the blonde. Almost as if Marinette was trying to get a read on what Chloé's intentions were.

The atmosphere in the bathroom suddenly feels heavy, it's almost suffocating.

Lips part, "What do you want, Chloé?", Marinette says, "Come to kick me while I'm already down?", the teen asks, a cold look fills blue eyes. Pink lips press into a tight firm frown. Eyebrows furrowed.

The blonde presses her lips together, fists balling up, a part of her wanting to snap back at the girl, but before she could, she reminded herself why she was here. The heiress sucks in a breath and softly exhales it, she collects herself. "Have you told your parents?", Chloé ignores Marinette words. She feels a little proud of herself.

The sound of a tongue clicking echoed in the bathroom, Marinette looked away, not answering the question that was asked.

Chloé sighs again and starts to move, she cautiously draws closer to the girl that once had everything. Her legs carry her until she is standing over her childhood enemy, "Get up.", Chloé says softly, yet demandingly as she looks down at the girl.

A glare washes over Marinette's face. But Chloé remains unfazed, she knows better, she knows that however Marinette acts towards her, is all misdirected anger and stress. Chloé had somehow found it in herself to understand someone else and their problems. She couldn't just stand by and not do anything any longer, she didn't understand why she suddenly just 'woke' up in class today, she didn't know exactly what changed inside of her, but all she knew, was that something bad was happening to someone that didn't deserve it and it was just wrong. She felt as if she's stood by long enough.

"Leave me alone.", Marinette growls under her breath, her nose flares slightly as her eyebrows furrow even harder. She wears a threatening gaze. It was clear the girl felt cornered. No doubt she would lash out on Chloé.

"Marinette, I'm not here to hurt you-"

"You? Hurt me?", Marinette cut the girl off and snickered bitterly, "Sorry, you're a little late to the party.", the teen sneered.

Chloé narrowed her eyes a bit, she felt her heart thump just a little faster, she felt the familiar sensation of impatience crawling over her. "I'm being serious.", the Bourgeois says, voice growing firm. "I just want to help you.", the blonde says slowly.

Marinette's face seems to get flooded with surprise, but quickly, the look is washed over with something else. "You. Help me?", Marinette releases a half scuff, half chuckle. "Since when you do help anyone other than yourself?"

Lips twitch, Chloé finds that Marinette is starting to wear on her patience faster than she thought the girl would. 'She's upset', Chloé reminds herself, repeating the reasoning behind Marinette's attitude towards her, to herself. "Get off the floor."

"No.", Marinette snarls.

Chloe frowns now and she bends down, reaching for the teen.

"NO!", Marinette practically screams, a furious expression takes over her face. She slaps Chloé's hands away and pushes herself back against the wall, using it to quickly slide her back up against it to quickly shuffle up to her feet. "Leave me alone!", the teen yells and before the blonde can react, Marinette suddenly pushes her hard. Hard enough to wind and send Chloé backwards and off her feet.

"Umph!", Chloé loses her balance, she falls onto her back and slides a foot or two across the bathroom floor. A look of surprise fills her facial features, but just as quickly as it showed, it was replaced by a look of pure anger, Chloé sits up and gets to her feet and in blind anger she rushes forwards, she makes to push the girl she was trying to help, "You little-!", and just as Chloé hands make contact with Marinette's chest, she finds that her attempt at pushing hardly moves the taller girl, and before she knows it, Marinette roughly grabs her by the collar of her jacket and turns them around, pushing her hard against the cement wall, pinning her back against it. Chloé turns away from the angry girl, wondering how it could have turned into this, wondering if she made the wrong choice in trying to help the Dupain-Cheng. Regret started to make it's way over her. Hands grasped at the front of Marinette's shirt, no doubt the material of the shirt would be wrinkled due to how tightly she gripped it.

Marinette sneered. She felt her body boiling hot with anger, she blindly raised her hand, balling it up, cocking it back, as if she was going to hit Chloé, but before she could do such a thing, she felt pinching on her sides and ribs, she winced and bit her tongue. Anger still clouding her better judgement, she hissed and yelled at the blonde, taking out her pent up frustrations on the blonde that turned away from her, "Why wouldn't you leave me alone!", Marinette yells, furiously, her thoughts became a jumbled mess, her vision grew cloudy and blurry, "I warned you!", the ravenette yells again, quite red faced.

Chloé winces and flinches, she starts to push against the girl's chest, her hands resting against the chest, she could feel the girl's body heat radiating through the material of the shirt. "Get off me!", Chloé yells as she starts to struggle, pushing and pushing. Trying to get the girl off her, but finds it futile as Marinette is stronger than she ever could have expected. She hits the Dupain-Cheng's chest twice and then out of growing desperation she suddenly slaps Marinette across the face, causing the teen to turn away.

The sound of the slap echoes loudly inside the bathroom. The sound of heavy breathing soon fills the bathroom.

Chloé's eyes are watery, she pants, trying to catch her breath. Her heart's racing.

Marinette remains with her face turned, eyes wide, lips parted in surprise, cheeks wet with tears.

"How fucking dare you.", Chloé huffs, tears running down her cheeks now, her lashes glistened with the salty liquid. "How fucking dare you.", she repeats again.

Marinette remains silent, facing the bathroom door, her heart racing hard and fast in her chest, guilt starting to bubble from within her. She feels pinching at her sides and ribs again, her thoughts start to clear as the fog of anger begins to lift. Tikki and Plagg were both pinching her from inside her shirt, not her jacket pocket, they both crawled up her shirt. Marinette could feel both kwamis against the skin over her ribs, she feels more pain from the side Plagg was no doubt on, she feels what has to be Plaggs pointy nails digging into her skin. She snaps out of it and turns to Chloé with wide eyes as realization washes over like a bucket of cold water.

Tears ran down pink cheeks, lips quivered, blue eyes looked...afraid.

Marinette closed her mouth and then opened it, her lips trembled, she was going to apologize, but just as she made to talk, Chloé silenced her with another slap, this one was more stronger, more firmer, it made more contact with the left side of her face than the clumsy desperate slap Chloé gave her earlier. The teen stumbled back, finally giving the blonde space. The faint taste of copper getting picked up by her taste buds. She looks down to the floor, licking her lips, her tongue ran over the source of the copper like taste. The corner of her bottom lip split.

"How dare you lay your hands on me.", the heiress breathed out, anger shaking her voice. She huffed and puffed, hands balled up by her sides now, Chloé suddenly flinched, she felt a sharp pain shoot up her finger on her right hand. She unballed her hands and brought her right hand up to her field of vision, she noticed blood covering the tip of her middle finger, she grit her teeth as she noticed that her nail had split. She quickly concludes that it must have happened when Marinette pushed her to the floor. "Fuck you.", Chloé growls as she brings her right her close to her chest, holding it with her left hand, new tears rolled down her cheeks.

Marinette finally looks up, she feels a knot build in her throat, guilt hits her hard, it almost leaves her breathless, her breath hitches, "Chloé, I-"

"Fuck you.", the blonde growls out again, her voice cracks, she looks furious, she looks as though she wants to hit Marinette again. "This is what I get...for fucking caring.", Chloé yells, she glares hard at the girl in front of her.

"I-I'm sorry, Chloé I-"

"Don't fucking talk to me-"

Marinette steps forwards, drawing towards the blonde, fear and regret clear in her expression, "Chloé, I'm so sorry. Please just-"

Chloé doesn't want to hear it, she suddenly rushes forwards and with all her strength, she shoves the ravenette back, most of her strength coming from using her entire body. She falls down with the Baker girl, falling on top of her.

"Omph", Marinette gets the breath knocked out of lungs the moment she lands on her back and Chloé's body falls on top of her. She releases a grunt and groan, eyes screw shut for a moment before opening. "Chloé-", before Marinette could talk more she sees the heiress raise her hand up, she turns away, flinching, screwing her eyes shut again.

The slap both of them expect to happen, doesn't.

Blue eyes open and found the Bourgeois panting, chest heaving, her hand frozen in midair, the blonde stopped herself from hitting her again. Marinette swallows thickly and fully turns her head to face the blonde that straddled her hips. "I'm sorry.", she exhaled shakily, "I just...I fucking…", the ravenette sharply intakes her breath, "...I...snapped...I just…".

There was no excuse, Marinette thought to herself, she should have never put her hands on the blonde, she shouldn't have lost it like that, she hurt the heiress. She did this.

The Bourgeois turned away from her. She felt hot, she'd never lost her temper like that, never. She never expected this to happen, never expected for her and Marinette to lay their hands on each other the way they just did. She felt her anger starting to slowly dissipate. Frustration starting to replace her anger. She broke her nail, she was bleeding from the injury, and it fucking hurt. Slapping the girl didn't help her finger much either. She felt her frustration starting to get the better of her, she brought a hand to her face, she felt whimpers starting to build in her throat, she pressed her lips together, wanting to suppress them. But she failed, and she started to break. She started to cry, bringing her other hand up to her face.

Another sharp jab on the side of ribs, made the Miraculous wielder jump slightly, her breath hitching, she tensed as she felt who she knew was Plagg, poking her hard with his sharp claws once again, she wondered how her sides looked.

Chloé cried softly, whimpering, sobbing. She just wanted to help, she thought that maybe she could help the Dupain-Cheng. But clearly she was wrong. "You fucking jerk.", the heiress whimpered into her hands.

Marinette felt her heart ache, she did this, she hurt someone who was probably trying to help her. Her anger, her stress and frustration got the best of her. Everything she kept shoving down and bottling up, all came up to the surface, she lost herself and hurt someone. "Chloé, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.", she started to say, her voice getting desperate. She messed up. She-

And in seconds all of Marinette's thoughts disappeared as she caught a glimpse of that familiar black butterfly coming their way.

"Akuma!", the teen yelled and in an instant, she turned them over. Her body between Chloé's legs, the blonde placed her hands over her shoulders and started to dig her nails into them. The taller girl grit her teeth slightly as she felt pain from the blonde digging her nails into her shoulders.

"Get off me!", the blonde yelled, wanting to get out from under Marinette.

"No- Wait, Chloé, just...ah, stop digging your nails-". The ravenette winced, "Please, relax, just for a second- ahh-"

Chloé glared hard, digging her nails even harder into the clothed shoulders, "I'm fucking pissed at you!", the blonde yelled.

"I-I know, I know! I fucked up, I hurt you, I'm sorry! Just please...please I'm begging you, relax, I can't...I won't be able to live with myself if I got you akumatized. Please, Chloé!", the teen begged. Begged for the blonde to just relax for a few seconds to keep the Aluma at bay, but it seemed that the akuma was flying closer and closer. Marinette felt movement from within her shirt, she knew the kwamis were both now aware of the Akuma's presence, "Please, please-", fresh tears started to escape her eyes, they rolled down her cheeks, "Chloé, please-"

The heiress pressed her lips into a tight line as she saw the Akuma drawing closer and closer to them, 'Fuck, Fuck…', Chloé clenched her jaw tightly. "Even if I relax, the stupid Akuma's still coming for you.", Chloé panted out as she stopped digging her nails into the tense shoulders, "One of us is still getting Akumatized."

Marinette screwed her eyes shut, she had very little choices in what to do, she knew that what Chloé was saying was true, one of them would still be akumatized. "I…", she started to feel panic rise up from within her, she searched Chloé's eyes frantically, "I…", One solution came to mind, a very reckless one. "Plagg!", Marinette suddenly yelled out.

Chloé raised her eyebrows sharply, she was going to say something, but quickly all words died off in her mouth when she saw what she knew was a being of a familiar species suddenly escape from Marinette's shirt through her collar.

"Kid!", Plagg yelled as he flew up, he saw the akuma already two feet from them. He knew that this action would change a lot of things, before they were ever really ready to change.

Marinette then sat up on her knees, she gave Chloé one last desperate look and suddenly brought her right hand up to her field of vision, she then brought her left hand to her right hand and she grabbed the silver ring that had been worn backwards, she's turns it and raises her right hand over her head, the hand that had the silver ring wrapped around the ring finger. "Plagg, Claws out!". In a single flash, a Cat themed hero was before Chloé. A hero that very much wore a costume that resembled Chat Noir's own. The ravenette's pigtails were gone, her hair was now a loose unruly mess, her soft blue eyes, were now a much more vibrant color of piercing blue. The bell on the costume's collar was silver instead of gold.

Without waiting another second, Marinette spoke again, "Cataclysm!", she called out as she threw her right gloved hand up over her head and just like that the power of destruction was granted to her, she screwed her eyes shut, "Hang on to me, Chloé!", Marinette said and without waiting for Chloé to process what was happening, the miraculous wielder used her power of destruction against the floor, pressing her hand against the area of the floor beside the side of the blonde's head and the ground gave away in an instant, disintegrating, making both teens fall through to what they knew was the bathroom beneath the one they were in.

Chloe wrapped her arms around the...heroes neck. Holding onto her tightly as they fell down.

"I got you!", Marinette said as she extended her baton to the floor beneath them and the ceiling above them, she wrapped an arm around the teen and held her tightly against her side as she used her other hand to keep a safe grip on the extended staff, they descended quickly and safely down to the next bathroom thanks to the extended staff. "Ngh!", Marinette's boots touched the floor first, she then made her staff go back to a more smaller and manageable size, she reached behind herself and attached it to her belt, she then bent a little and slipped her other arm under Chloé's legs and scooped her up into her arms and she fled with the blonde. She kicked the bathroom door down and jumped onto the closest stair rail nearby and then jumping off of it to get to the open roof of the school.

All the while Marinette carried her away from the Akuma, Chloé had blanked out, not quite fully processing what just happened. She was confused, baffled and so lost. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was a miraculous holder, and not just of any miraculous, but the girl was in possession of Chat Noir's miraculous? Her thoughts started to come back to her, she started to think more clearly once she and the miraculous holder landed on the roof of their school.

Marinette clenched her jaw a bit, she stopped and dropped the the blonde on the roof, she looked at the girls face, trying to get a read on her. "Stay here, Chloé. I'll be back for you.", the taller teen said. Her expression was glum.

The blonde merely nods, still stuck in awe and surprise.

The ravenette then spun around and ran off, jumping off the roof and started her search for the Akuma. She knew very well that the akuma would stick around the school ground to try and weed out another potential target. She had to find it and transform into Ladybug to de-evilize it before it hurt anyone.

"Chat Noir!?", came a surprised voice, followed by many murmurs and gasps.

Marinette's shoulders twitched slightly as she recognized the voice.

"The bathroom's a wreck!", another voice shouted out.

Marinette sucked in a breath, she turned around slowly and as soon as she did, she saw Alya already with her phone out, no doubt recording. Her eyes darted around, she finds many of her peers and other students from other classes outside of their class, all looking around or at her.

"You're not Chat Noir.", Alix speaks up from behind Alya.

"Yeah, Where's Chat Noir?", Sabrina soon popped up from the crowd, asking.

Marinette sighs deeply and gives it to them straight. "The Chat Noir you all knew became unworthy of the miraculous. He was stripped of it.", the girl says as she hardens her gaze.

Everyone seems surprised and baffled, everyone but Alya and Nino, the two teens look...relieved.

Alya sighs deeply, "So...are you the new Chat Noir?", she asks, her voice shakes slightly.

Everyone falls silent for a moment.

Marinette sighs and looks up suddenly, she finds Chloé staring at her from the edge of the roof. Alya and everyone else follows the Miraculous wielder's gaze, they all see Chloé watching them intensely.

"Chloé?!", Ms. Bustier calls out as she gets to the metal rail, her hands grip it.

The teen groans and returns her gaze to Alya and her phone. "There's an Akuma flying about, you should all evacuate.", the hero says calmly yet authoritatively. She avoids answering the question.

Everyone nods and starts to run towards the stairs so they could all descend them and leave. Everyone but Alya and Nino. Both teens stay behind with the 'new' hero.

"What?", Marinette speaks a bit roughly, she sees both Nino and Alya flinch a bit.

Alya suddenly stops recording and put her phone into her pocket, "Ladybug took back Chat Noir's miraculous and picked you to take over?", The brunette asks. Clearly she's curious and can't help but ask questions. It was just yesterday that Chat Noir had done what he did. Ladybug worked fast to strip him of his powers.

Nino looked at the hero before him, observing her, "Ladybug sure worked fast on getting a new Chat Noir-"

And as she heard that name once more, Marinette snapped, "Do not call me Chat Noir.", the teen said roughly, eyes narrowing, "Stop calling me that.", she practically growled. "Now get out of here. Both of you."

The brunette raised an eyebrow, not expecting the teen to snap the way she did, she could tell being called 'Chat Noir' struck some type of cord in the girl, "Woah, chill out-"

Marinette felt anger boil inside her once again, and just as she was going to retort, her ring let out a familiar 'beep', and she had no choice but to go. "When I come back, you two better be out of here. Understood?", the teen stepped towards the two teens quite intimidatingly.

Nino got in front of Alya, he got protective, "Chill out, man.", he frowned heavily.

Marinette stepped off, as she noticed the butterfly finally coming out of the trashed bathroom. She groaned and grabbed her staff, she jumped from where she stood and extended her staff before she could land on the floor, and she quickly disappeared to the opposite side of the roof where Chloé was left on.

Both Nino and Alya turned to look at Chloé, both saw Chloé glare at them suddenly before turning away and getting up, walking on the roof.

"What the hell is going on?", Alya merely groaned.

* * *

"Claws In.", Marinette groaned as she got to a hiding spot.

Just as the girl lost the transformation Plagg started to scold. Something that was hardly in his nature. "You revealed yourself to Chloé! You're being even more reckless than the kid before you!", he got in the chosen Ladybug's face, "I thought Ladybug's were supposed to be wise!"

"Plagg, that's enough!", Tikki suddenly appeared. The Kwami was flying over to them.

Plagg hissed, "This master of yours just revealed herself!"

Tikki sighed as she made it to the two. "It's not that bad, Marinette isn't the permanent Black Cat holder."

"Still!", Plagg argued. "She won't be able to use me individually-"

"I can convince Chloé to keep it quite-", Marinette attempted to speak.

"You attacked the poor girl!", Plagg yelled over the teen, "You attacked her and you expect her to listen you after what you did!", the Kwami was losing his temper. He had gotten physical with Adrien once or twice, he bit the boy the first time he kissed Marinette without her permission, the second time, he scratched Adrien because the boy was pestering Marinette yet again. It was rare for him to attack his masters. But lately, it seemed like he was just going to make a habit of it, first Adrien and now Marinette, he was pretty sure that Marinette had bruising along her ribs and her side, he made sure she'd feel it.

Tikki cringed, the earlier incident that led to the Akuma showing up, made her flinch. She's never attacked her masters, never, her latest chosen was the first. She sighed again and shook her head, "Look, stop arguing, the both of you!", Tikki scolded the both of them, "What happened, happened, there's no going back.", Tikki said. "As for keeping Chloé quiet, all we have to do is have Ladybug talk to her. If there's anyone Chloé may listen to, it's Ladybug.", the kwami explained, "Now, Recharge Plagg, cause I think today's the day we begin the search for the new Black Cat.", the Ladybug kwami turned to her chosen and hardened her gaze, "Marinette, your downward spiral has gone on long enough, straighten up or I will be forced to also have you stripped."

Marinette flinched, clearly taken aback by Tikki's threat, unlike whoever Chat Noir was, she wouldn't run, she would willingly turn her miraculous over to Fu if she was deemed no longer fit to be a hero. She swallowed thickly and turned away from Tikki.

Plagg groaned again, Marinette was proving to be harder to reach, "Why Fu allowed you the privilege of carrying both myself and Tikki, is beyond me, kid. But there's not going back right now, you have to take responsibility for the Akuma you and blondie summoned up and take care of it.", the Kwami spoke honestly, "You were a great kid, you still are. I know these past few months have been challenging for you, but I think it's time for you to put that behind you. Stop hanging on to people who weren't worth it from the beginning. They didn't take the time to get to know you, like you did them, they cast you aside.", the kwami drew closer, he was never one to advise, but he saw that the girl was struggling, she hit rock bottom, there was nowhere left but going up from here, and if she failed to do so, then that would be a problem for them.

Tikki looked a little surprised by Plagg's words, he said the things that she didn't dare to say herself. She knew that it was unhealthy for Marinette to hang on to the people that were once her close friends. She knew that letting them go was the only way for Marinette to get better, for Marinette to improve. "Marinette, please, gather yourself."

The teen nodded stiffly and finally turned to look at Tikki, "O-Okay." She breathed out, "Tikki, spots on.". In a flash, Ladybug stood before Plagg, "Lets get to my locker, I have some snacks in my bag you can eat."

The kwami nodded, "Lead the way Kid."

* * *

It takes them just a few minutes to reach the locker, Marinette opens it and takes her bag out and feeds Plagg, the kwami doesn't say a word, he just eats what she has and before either of them know it, he's recharged and ready.

"So, Who are you gonna choose for today?", Plagg asks curiously. A part of him knows it's stupid to even ask, Marinette doesn't trust anyone.

"I may have someone.", Marinette quickly answered. Much to Plagg's surprise.

"Who?"

A small half smile formed on pink lips. "You already met her."

Plagg raises an eyebrow, he thinks. After a few moments of pondering, realization and horror flood his facial features, "No.", he says. "No way. Not her."

Marinette shrugs, "It's only temporary.", the ravenette says.

Plagg threw his head back, "Ugh, you are one of the most-Umph!", before Plagg can even finish what he was saying, Marinette merely grabbed him from the air and ran off with him in her grasp. She held him in the hand she wore the ring. "Why you little-!", he trailed off as he started to bite the hand that held him, but it was futile, hit teeth couldn't penetrate the gloved hand.

Marinette sighs as she finally makes it to the roof, she looked around where she had left Chloé, but finds the blonde nowhere in sight. She walked around the roof and comes to the conclusion that the heiress must have left. She groans, of course Chloé doesn't do what she says. Or at least, so she thought.

"Ladybug?", Chloé's voice startles the spotted hero.

Marinette sucks in a breath and collects herself, she was Ladybug right now, not Marinette. "Chloé, I was told you were here.", Ladybug turns around, she forces a small smile.

Chloé raises and eyebrow, her eyes wonder the heroes face for a moment before dropping to the gloved hand that held the familiar 'Plagg' in it. "Marinette's kwami?", her eyes darted back to Ladybugs own.

Ladybug tenses for a moment, she nods slowly, "Yes…", she says cautiously.

Chloé frowns slightly, "Did you...take him away from her?", she asks hesitantly.

There's a short moment of silence between them before an answer comes, Ladybug thinks before she speaks, "Yes.", she finally says, "Marinette compromised her identity and...it's come to my attention that I made an error with her.", she sighs, she reaches out and suddenly holds Plagg out, "Would you...like to help me?"

Plagg looks annoyed, but he mumbles a greeting to the blonde he felt he knew enough of. "Hi, I'm Plagg.", he greets dryly. His voice comes out a little sarcastic as well.

Chloé's eyes widened, "No.", she turns down the offer. It's something neither of them expect, even Plagg is surprised. It catches both Plagg's and Marinette's attention.

"Chloé."

"Look, Dupain-Cheng's going through a lot right now.", The heiress sighed deeply, she raised her uninjured hand to run it through her slightly messy hair, "She's usually kind and easy to deal with. But lately, she's changed, but that isn't her fault, she's...really struggling. Give her another chance."

Ladybug is baffled. She doesn't know how to respond. Chloe just vouched for her, despite what happened between them. Despite her hurting her and yelling at her. Chloe truly has changed, and she didn't even see it coming. She was too caught up in trying to win her old friends back to realize that other people existed around her, people that changed. Maybe Plagg was right. She should just...let the others go, start fresh, make new friends, start over. "I'll give her another chance. As long as you keep her identity under wraps.", Ladybug says softly, she feels her body relaxing in the blonde's presence. She owed the Bourgeois a heartfelt apology.

The blonde smiles weakly.

"But.", Ladybug starts again.

Chloé hums.

"For today, I want you to help me, Marinette wasn't exactly feeling up to one last fight before I took her ring. Can you fill in for now?", Ladybug asks, her smile starts to grow genuine.

The blonde nods, returning her idols smile, "Just for today."

Plagg hums, intrigued, his interest is suddenly peaked. Maybe the Blonde had potential, more so than he first thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There won't be a definite Chat Noir. (Yet.)
> 
> Feel free to drop comments/critiques/questions.


	5. Do You Feel It? P.3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette feels a sense of hope for the first time in a long time; There's a new feeling brewing between two struggling teenagers, and with something new, comes exploring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's an update!
> 
> Please excuse any mistakes I may have made!

They don't find the akuma in time. It weeded out a new target before they got there. But it wasn't hard to take the akumatized villain out, Chloé was agile and fast without even using a miraculous, so of course when she puts on the ring and is granted the powers of the black cat, she becomes quite the adversary for the akumatized foe. Even Ladybug is taken aback. Together the Ladybug and Black Cat make quick work of their foe. It felt oddly natural and in sync.

Marinette can't help but admire the blonde for a moment once the battle is done and she de-evilizes the akuma, she can't help but take in the sight of loose wild blonde curls and brilliant, piercing sapphire eyes. It's a magnificent sight, the Dupain-Cheng finds herself thinking. She's almost breathless when she stands in front of Chloé and actually takes her appearance in.

Marinette can't help but feel more at ease suddenly. Chloé performed well as the Black Cat, better than Marinette did. Tikki and Plagg both seemed to be pleased for once, things were handled effectively and efficiently, both kwamis and also Marinette felt something they hadn't felt in what felt like a long time.

Harmony.

* * *

She had to apologize, she had to apologize the best she could. Sure Chloé had vouched for her and seemed okay when she spoke to Ladybug, but she knew better than to just leave it as that. Marinette knew she hurt Chloé, she hurt a person that was changing for the better. The last thing she wanted to do was damage whatever it was that made Chloé want to change, whatever it was that compelled Chloé to reach out to her finally.

So a thought came to mind, an idea, she was going to make her apology as sincere as possible. Marinette had returned home and baked for the first time in what felt like a long time. Marinette almost felt herself enjoying the effort she was putting into the pastries she was preparing. Her parents both seemed surprised to see her putting the apron on and getting out ingredients, neither of them asked her about it, but Marinette knew they must have had questions. Baking was something she did quite often back then, it was one of the many things she loved to do, but then she lost everything and everyone, and she lost interest. But something in Marinette changed today, the fire she once had for life, had been put out, but now, it seemed as though it was re-lit. Something was brewing.

Tikki looked happy for once, she smiled genuinely, gratefully even, the kwami couldn't help but see a new change in Marinette suddenly, the way blue eyes brightened up suddenly. Plagg had an affect on Marinette, and Tikki couldn't be happier at the moment. There was hope for Marinette to get better, hope for her chosen to let all the unnecessary burdens go. Because when Marinette is happy, loving and living, Tikki is too, and while Marinette is still missing an important thing in the 'big three' things to being human, Tikki isn't too worried, because she knew that Marinette was taking steps in recovering and slowly entering the process of taking her life back. Tikki knew that Marinette needed to be happy before she could love and live fully again. She had faith, she just knew deep down that Marinette would come out on top by the end of this.

* * *

It's almost midnight when Chloé is startled from her sleep by a soft 'thud', she almost screams bloody murder when she sees a dark figure moving about her spacious room, but before the scream gets a chance to escape passed her lips, a gloved hand is placed over her mouth, muffling her screams. She reacts of course, slipping into fight or flight mode, her instincts choose fight, and she does, reaching out, she clumsily slaps the late night intruder across the face.

"Ow! Chloé!", comes a harsh whisper half growl in the dark as the figure shuffles away.

And that's all it takes for Chloé to relax and collect herself. She shuffles out from under the warmth and comfort of her comforter and she reaches for the lamp just a foot from her, she turns the light on, and the dim soft orange light partially bathes the room in light. "Dupain-Cheng?", Chloé whispers. Eyes narrowing slightly, arms crossing over her chest.

The intruder was none other than a certain Black Cat miraculous wielder, sneaking about in Chloé's room. The teen looks away, she swallowed thickly as she sheepishly tugs at the silver bell attached to her suits collar, she sighs deeply. "I uh...sorry uh...um well…", she's nervous, unsure of anything right now, insecurity starts to fill her.

Chloé stands before the hero and waits, waiting for an explanation. The blonde feels a little annoyed and irritated, she was startled awake, who wouldn't feel that way.

Marinette sucks in a breath and exhales it, she finally turns back to the heiress and starts to talk. "H-Hey.", she says. She nearly face palms, internally cursing herself. She came to apologize, not cower away when facing the person she came to see.

The blonde can see the teen struggling to speak properly, she decides to take pity on the girl. Chloé sighs deeply, she rolls her eyes and suddenly moves from where she stood, she draws closer and closer to the taller girl, slowly she unfolds her arms and brings a hand up to the side of the flinching Dupain-Cheng's face, gently taking a hold of it. "I really did a number on you huh.", she comments softly. Her eyes take in the bruising on Marinette's face and the split on Marinette's bottom lip.

Marinette screwed her eyes shut the moment she saw the heiress raising a hand, she was starting to get a fear of Chloé lifting her hands in her direction, the blonde truly knew how to slap. The ravenette had thought that Chloé was going to hit her again but no pain came, instead she felt a soft hand take a hold of the left side of her face. She opened one eye to take a peek at Chloé, and she found the teen studying her face with a soft expression. "I...I deserved it.", Marinette admits softly, she licks her lips and winces as she realizes that her split lip had opened up again. Copper once again gets picked up by her taste buds. She opened both eyes.

The heiress sighs, she feels a little guilty, but she didn't have a choice the first time she slapped Marinette, the girl had her trapped between herself and the wall, the second time, was her giving in to her anger, and this time, well, she was scared out of her mind. "The first time you did.", the Bourgeois gently removes her hand from the Baker girl's face. Dropping her hands to her sides, "So, why break into my room and scare me half to death?", she asks, curious as to what brought the girl here at this time.

Marinette hums and looks away for a moment, she thinks before she speaks, gathering her thoughts and putting them into words. "I...I came to apologize.", she answers softly, she returns her gaze to the blonde standing in front of her in...she blushes as she takes in what Chloé's wearing, "Uh, um- S-Sorry-", the teen breaks her eyes off the blonde's exposed legs, she once again turns away, turning her face towards a coffee table on the other side of the room, she feels her cheeks warming up.

Chloé is a little confused as to what threw Marinette off, but she doesn't think on it, she follows the taller teens gaze and finds flowers laying on top of a box. She feels her cheeks warm up slightly, she feels heart heart jump in a pleasant way. She turns her body towards the direction of what had to be apology gifts from Marinette, the reason why Marinette snuck in, in the middle of the night. "You...brought stuff…", she says slowly as she starts to walk over to the just barely dimly lit side of her room. She sees the kind of flowers that rest upon two boxes. She feels a small smile curl her lips. Yellow Rose's, a dozen of them.

Marinette nervously and cautiously trails behind the blonde, "I uh...brought the flowers, um, I made some pastries, a little of everything, I wasn't sure what you liked…", the teen starts to feel herself starting to sweat, she rubs the back of her neck as she gets beside the Bourgeois.

Chloé sighs softly, her gaze softens considerably, she bends down and grabs the yellow flowers to get a better look at them. It's a nicely wrapped bouquet of yellow roses, a yellow bow is tied around it, keeping it together. "These are nice.", Chloé says softly as she brings the bouquet closer, she holds it gently and carefully in her hands.

The Dupain-Cheng merely nods and fidgets in place. She observes the girl holding the bouquet, she can't help but feel something familiar bubbling in her chest. She swats the odd feeling away and focuses on what's happening now.

She appreciates this, Marinette coming here and leaving these things for her. She may feel a little angry over what happened earlier between them, but she knew better than to hang onto that. Marinette wanted to apologize. "Thank you.", she says as she turns her head to the side to face the teen beside her. Her eyes taking in the girls appearance for the second time today. The loose messy unruly hair looked nice and the gentle yet fierce glow to Marinette's eyes were quite appealing. Chloé merely smiled, she was checking the girl out, who could blame her.

Marinette nods sheepishly, she swallows thickly. "I...uh, I just really wanted to say that I'm sorry, that I shouldn't have ever lost myself like that.", the teen breathes out, "I really...really wish that...that maybe...you could give me another chance…I mean, like...be friends...but I understand if-"

"It's fine.", Chloé suddenly waves it off, "Look, these past few months were hard on you, especially with...them hurting you physically. I get it, I do.", the heiress trailed off.

"But?", Marinette says, her gaze growing a little worried.

"Just, don't hurt me like that again.", the Bourgeois says, almost asking.

A moment of silence fills the room for a moment. But only for a moment.

Marinette steps closer to Chloé, she gently and slowly reaches out, she takes a hold of the bouquet of flowers in the blonde's grasp, she takes them and turns to place them back from where they were taken from, she then turns back to Chloé, her body faced the girl. "Chloé.", she starts off, her expression grows sincere, she gently takes in a breath and slowly releases it, she calms herself. "I...I've been in a really dark place ever since Lila showed up, ever since her lies took everything from me, and...I...I've been dealing with some other things as well...things that, I can't exactly reveal to you fully. I'm...broken, and I'm trying my best to put myself together again. To start over.", Marinette sighs as she pauses, she feels her heartbeat picking up, she feels it thumping pretty hard against her chest, she swallows thickly and closes her eyes. "Claws In.", Marinette whispers softly, and as the words softly escape passed her lips, a flash of light momentarily forces Chloé to shut her eyes. The teen opens her eyes and finds Chloé opening her own as well. She stands before the blonde as herself, not as the Black Cat. Because this is more sincere and meaningful.

Chloé softened her gaze once again, she runs her eyes over the ravenette's face. Months ago, she would have never seen this coming, any of this, she and Marinette would have still been fighting over stupid things, arguing for no reason like they always did. Nothing would have changed between them. Save for the fact that maybe she would have still been struggling with her true feelings for the girl before her. It was a tough pill to swallow, a tough truth to acknowledge. She had fallen for the Dupain-Cheng, when? She didn't know and wasn't sure. She never really registered what she was feeling, she just chalked what she was feeling towards the teen up to hate. She wanted it to be hate. But it turned out that guilt and want came hand in hand when the balance of their entire class and circle of friends was obliterated by the arrival and stay of Lila Rossi. She opted to keep her feelings to herself, opted to hide her real emotions behind insults and glares, it would have stayed that way had Lila not shown up and taken everything from Marinette. She wanted to ignore the girl like everyone else had done, but her feelings nagged her day in and day out, eating away at her, reminding her that she cared for the girl that once had everything. She wouldn't say it out loud, but it hurt her to see Marinette hurt.

"I...I promise, Chloé. I'll never hurt you again. I-I-"

Chloé smiled, she raised her hand and once again took a hold of the bruised side of Marinette's face, the pad of her thumb running over the cheek bone. The heiress felt her heart swell with warmth when Marinette relaxed and closed her eyes, leaning into her touch with a look of clear relief. Chloé brought her other hand up and just held the girl's face, "I forgive you, Marinette.", she says softly.

Chloé's words are everything Marinette wants to hear. Chloé's touch suddenly becomes everything Marinette wants to feel. The teen shakily brings her hands up and places them over the hands that held her face. She feels something in her chest ache, she feels a yearning, longing feeling bubbling up. Marinette can't fight the tears that build in her eyes, she keeps her eyes closed, but they still escape, rolling down her cheeks and no doubt over Chloé's thumbs. She feels so many things, it's almost overwhelming.

Chloé feels her heart break just a little bit, she sees the teen trying to keep herself together, fighting whatever feelings she was feeling. She says nothing, she stays quiet, she wants Marinette to feel safe with her, she doesn't want to make the teen feel pressured to share like she first did.

A soft uneven breath breaks from Marinette's throat, it escapes passed her trembling lips. The teen tries evening her breath, she wants to keep it together, she needs to keep it together. She opens her watery eyes and sees the affectionate look that the heiress stared at her with, she could tell how genuine it was. Chloé forgave her, she cared about her. Chloé. Marinette feels her chest fill with warmth, she feels like everything is going to be okay, she feels a sense of hopefulness for the first time in what felt like forever. Maybe there was a light at the end of the tunnel after all. Maybe this was Marinette's fresh start. She finally calms herself, she appreciates this, this moment she had. She almost wants it to last forever.

Chloé meets the Dupain-Cheng's gaze, resolve filling her while she stares into those water blue eyes. She wants to help Marinette put herself back together, she wants to be there for her, to hold her when things got tough, to listen to her when she felt like she was overflowing with bottled up pain. Chloé wanted to be Marinette's sanctuary.

"Thank you.", Marinette whispers softly. "Thank you, so much.", she speaks gratefully and sincerely.

Chloé nods, "I'm here for you now, Marinette. You can come to me whenever you need someone. Whether it's day or night, feel free to come here, you can talk to me, or just hang around.", the blonde's lips remains curled in a soft smile, "Share what you want to share with me, I won't push you. I just want you to know that I'm here and I'll welcome you with open arms."

Marinette smiles, she feels so much better, she feels more...stable, more grounded. She takes her hands off of Chloé's own, she reaches between then and places them over the blonde's hips, she ignores the fact that the girl in front of her isn't wearing pants or shorts. She leans forwards and so does Chloé, she feels hands slide off her head and arms sliding over her shoulders, she feels Chloé's chin on her shoulder when the gap between their bodies completely disappears. Tightly, their arms wrap around each other. Marinette gets goosebumps when she allows herself to be held, when she allows herself to hold. It's almost breathtaking. She releases a sigh of relief when she feels one of Chloé's hands on the back of her neck, fingers playing with the hair that grew there. This is the moment that Marinette feels pieces of herself being put back together.

As the two teens hug, Plagg silently looks on. He can't help but somehow know that Chloé will inevitably become Marinette's anchor. The obnoxious blonde who he thought he knew enough of, wasn't all that she first appeared to be, the girl had much more depth than he would have ever expected. Things would change, they were going to change, they were changing.

But as long as the two teens would have each other from here on out, maybe more change wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Maybe they would balance each other out.

* * *

There's an anger brewing somewhere.

A deep seeded one. It's an anger that begins like the existence of a flower. It starts off as a seed, but like all seeds, it will inevitably start to grow and blossom into it's true form.

Emerald eyes glared heavily at the empty 'healers' building space that now had a 'for rent' sign attached to the window, fists balled up. Blonde hair was disheveled. The boy had come to the place he thought he knew he might find the Guardian of the Miraculous, but it became obvious he was expected. The Guardian packed up and left.

And it only made his anger boil even more.

He was stripped of his miraculous, he was set up, he just knew that Ladybug had been the one behind the entire thing. The girl was dead set on not reciprocating his feelings, he didn't understand why, he knew they were fated to be, it was their destiny, the Ladybug and Black Cat always ended up together. Always. Why had Fu taken her side? Why did it seem that the world just kept getting between them? He was handsome, he was smart, he was a good guy, he would have gave Ladybug everything. Everything. They would have been happy together. They could still be.

Adrien growls through his teeth, frustration quickly comes over him. He wanted answers and the one man who could have gave them to him had packed up and left. Neither Fu or Ladybug trusted him, that had became clear, he had always been left in the dark about new developments in their fight against Hawk Moth. They never kept him in the loop despite how hard he tried, despite how many times he risked his life for people that didn't always deserve saving. The boy was furious. This was a betrayal he didn't expect, yet he felt as if he should have. He should have been more alert. He should have paid more attention.

An idea suddenly popped up in Adrien's head, his lips curled into a dark grin. Hawk Moth always sent out Akumas, what if he got caught up in the middle of it?

No doubt Ladybug would show up, she would appear, alone, no backup, he could pretend to be some random civilian, he would catch her off guard, corner her maybe. Maybe even finally unmask her. She wouldn't expect it from him, she didn't know his identity, at least...he hoped so. After all he did wake up in his normal form under some stairs, someone had to have placed him there. He hoped it was Fu, and he hoped Fu didn't expose him.

Maybe he could make Ladybug love him, as Adrien Agreste.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well...(Hue, hue, hue)
> 
> Feel free to drop comments/critiques/questions.


	6. Unraveling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette starts her road to recovery, by finally taking herself out of the place that hurt her most, but it turns out that it isn't as simple as she thought it would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's an update.
> 
> Please forgive any mistakes I may have made.

It's been three days since Marinette started to live in a world where Chloé Bourgeois became her rock. Three days of living in a world where she uses the Black Cat miraculous as if it were her permanent miraculous. But where it's been a three days of some more changes in her life, It's been a single day of her living in a world where she was forced to move classes and surround herself with strangers.

Well, mostly strangers.

She knew some of the names that went with some of the faces she was now sitting in a room with, there was Jean Duparc, the popular Aurore Beauréal and Mireille Caquet, the creative writer, Mark Anciel, and the Ice Queen and her sorta friend, Kagami Tsurugi. Students seemed a little surprised to have her join their homeroom, especially Kagami. Marinette wanted to avoid questions, the last thing she wanted was for rumors to start, and for Lila's lies to follow her here. So, she sits through her first day in her new homeroom in silence, luckily the other students weren't curious enough about her sudden presence in their class to ask her why she changed classes a semester in to the school year. At least, that's how it was until the last 15 minutes of the class.

"Marinette?", Kagami comes to her and pulls out the empty seat next to her, she sits in it. "You switched classes?", she asks, her gaze already meeting Marinette's own. For a moment her eyes run over the Dupain-Cheng's facial features, taking in the injuries on the teens face, she wants to ask, but opts to ask about it later.

Marinette is a little startled, she feels anxiousness suddenly start to gnaw at her. She gives Kagami a forced smile, "Uh yeah.", she says. Wanting to leave it at that, hoping that Kagami wouldn't press her more. But...this was Kagami 'I don't hesitate' Tsurugi, so...of course the girl presses for more information.

Kagami knew something was off, she wasn't stupid. Marinette's uncomfortable body language screamed 'off'. The girl was usually all smiles and warmth, but today, the girl was giving off a totally different vibe. Kagami had found herself becoming more friendly with the girl, but with each time they interacted, she found that Marinette was being slightly paranoid at the mentions of Adrien and her classmates. She stopped asking after a while, simply greeting the girl in passing or sharing some texts here and there. That was it. She tried to not press, but she just knew that Marinette was hiding something. "Why? Weren't all your friends in that class?", Kagami asks with an eyebrow sharply going up. She knew how much Marinette valued such things as 'friendship'. So naturally she would wonder why Marinette left her friends.

The Dupain-Cheng falls silent for a moment, her expression jumps between panic, sadness and then it suddenly goes blank. Her lips press into a tight line for a moment, she sighs and shrugs, she forces a smile, "Yeah, just...too many distractions, you know.", the girl fakes a soft chuckle, but it comes out too fake. "All the goofing off, my grades slipped."

Such a bullshit excuse, Kagami can't help but think, it annoys her a bit. The fact that Marinette was lying to her, was irritating. She merely releases a sigh and accepts the excuse. "I See. You always were a tad bit too easily distracted, Marinette.", Kagami says blandly.

Marinette nods stiffly, almost robotically.

"You switched right?", Comes another voice.

Marinette turns her head to find two girls coming their way, Aurore and Mireille. The blonde was carrying her and Mireille's things, she sat them on the table in front of where Kagami and Marinette sat.

"Yeah.", Marinette feels her will to keep responding starting to falter. She keeps her forced smile going.

Before Mireille speaks, her eyes wander over Marinette's face, no doubt wondering what happened to the girls face, she doesn't ask out of respect for privacy. "Well, it's always nice to meet new people officially.", Mireille says as she smiles warmly and welcomingly, "I've seen you in the halls, but I never found a reason to talk to you. I've heard such nice things about you though."

Aurore nods from beside the teen, "Same. You're like, adored by your class.", the blonde says with a soft grin.

Marinette feels herself starting to feel ill. They had no idea. The rumors seemed to have managed to stay contained after all. She merely nods as she swallows thickly, wanting to rid herself of the growing knot in her throat. She felt her heart starting to race with fear. The last thing she wanted was to get dragged by other people.

While her two classmates began to talk to Marinette and tell her about the good things they've heard, Kagami closely observed the ravenette. She quickly saw Marinette growing more and more uneasy, clearly uncomfortable with the topic of the conversation. She drops her eyes down to Marinette's lap suddenly and finds Marinette nervously playing with a silver ring that was on her finger, she can't help but notice that Marinette is wearing it backwards, she raises an eyebrow for a moment. She suddenly feels like she's seen the ring somewhere. But just as Kagami was thinking, the sound of the teacher speaking silenced any chatter the class was having, while also pulling Kagami out of her thoughts.

"Alright class, be sure to turn in those papers by next Monday.", she says, "Class dismissed.", she then says and promptly walks out of the class.

The sound of students all shuffling about, getting their things together, filled the room.

"Oh snap, we should get going.", Aurore said as she stood up first.

Mireille stood up as well, she gave Marinette one more smile before looking at Kagami, "We should get going, the last time we were late, Ms.Mendeleiev nearly had our heads."

Kagami sighed and nodded, she shared her next class with Aurore and Mireille. She knew what they said was true. They had to go. "Well, see you tomorrow, Marinette.", she says as she quickly gathers her things, she then gets out of her seat and starts to trail behind the two girls. She quickly slipped into thought, thinking on whether or not she should text the girl to ask more questions, even thinking about visiting the girl.

Marinette sighs in relief and she quickly makes to get out of her seat, she gathers her things and manages to leave before Kagami and the others, she overhears something about Mireille leaving her binder on the floor where she first sat, and Aurore groaning. She's eager to walk past her old class and just get to her next class that just so happened to be a door down from where her old homeroom was. She's nervous. The Dupain-Cheng makes to speed walk, she wants to get by quickly, she's ready to ignore all questions shot her way should her old classmates have any. But just as she makes it by the open door and a figure coming out of the classroom, she finds herself on the floor, her books askew. She hears laughter and Marinette feels her heart drop to her stomach, she feels Ill again, she feels tears starting to burn her eyes.

"Damn, walk much", the same voice with the same phrase echoes among the laughter.

Marinette doesn't have to turn around to see who had tripped her. She feels despair all over again. She slowly gets to her hands and knees, she feels her arms shaking, she grits her teeth, feeling herself wanting to cry out of sheer frustration. The teen sucks in a shaky breath. She was going to start collecting her things from the floor when suddenly she hears other voices.

"What the hell was that!", Kagami's voice suddenly echoes among the laughter, and the laughing suddenly stops.

Marinette feels her heart drop all over again, her eyes grow wide. She slowly turns around and finds an angry looking Kagami and Aurore walking her way.

"You tripped her!", Aurore said as she got in Alix's face suddenly, quite intimidatingly, making Alix step backwards into the door frame.

The entire class all looked like deer caught in headlights.

"Not cool.", Mireille chimes in, her warm expression was now one of anger, the girl was upset at what she just saw. She steps passed Aurore and Kagami, she gets to Marinette, bending down, she kneeled and starts to gather the girls books.

"So what?", Alix says, she returns Aurore's glare, "If you knew her you wouldn't be wasting your time on her."

Kagami raises an eyebrow sharply at this. "I know her and she doesn't deserve to be tripped from nowhere. She could have gotten really hurt!", the girls raises her voice. She starts to think about what reasons may have led to Marinette's sudden switch of classes, and why Marinette had injuries on her face.

The commotion starts to catch the attention of many students.

Marinette feels panic starting to set in as she feels all eyes in their direction.

"Then you must be on her side, huh.", Alya suddenly chimes in, her tone is cold and detached, it was clear that Alya was definitely not on Marinette's side. The sound of distaste in Alya's voice is like a punch to the gut for Marinette. It's overwhelming. The brunette stands by, arms crossed, Nino and Lila both standing on either side of her.

Kagami is taken aback by Alya's words, "Side?". She looks between the teens.

"Yeah, she's a bully.", Alix said, "Simple. You reap what you sow.", she adds. "She's been bullying Lila since she got here."

Aurore makes an odd expression, she's struck silent. Mireille freezes in place as well. Lila, the name by itself struck something within both girls.

"I just wanted to be friends with her.", Lila chimes in, all teary eyed. She pouts slightly. "I didn't want things to get like this.", Lila holds her right hand to her chest, "I just wanted all of us to be friends."

The students except for Kagami, Aurore and Mireille, all give Lila sympathetic looks.

Kagami is taken aback, surprised. She turns to Marinette for a moment, she searches those watery blue eyes. Just for a moment. "Bull shit.", she says, she turns back to Alya, narrowing her eyes. "Marinette is not like that.", Kagami says, "Marinette isn't capable of that.", Kagami glares at the brunette heavily. It starts to make sense. She turns to where Aurore and Alix were, she finds Aurore giving her a look, and she nods. Kagami knew Lila was full of it.

Aurore sighs deeply, unimpressed by Lila's acting. The blonde knows, she knows the kind of person Lila is, she saw through her bullshit rather quickly, Mireille being a little naive almost fell into the Rossi girls lies, but thankfully, Aurore proved the girl was lying, stopping Mireille from actually becoming friends with the Liar. She remembered it like it was yesterday. Lila tried to pry Mireille from her, but Mireille and her had something strong, so Aurore eventually won out.

Mireille hardened her expression, she frowns heavily, "Come on, Let me walk you to class.", she says to Marinette. "We'll be late if we stick around. Let Kagami and Aurore deal with them.". She assists the teen to her feet and carries her book for her. Mireille releases a soft shaky breath, she looks away from Marinette and turns to look at Lila, for a moment she swears she sees a smirk on the brunette's face. She feels a little unnerved. For a moment she ponders, wondering why Marinette was being targeted by Lila. She wonders what would have happened if Aurore didn't step in when she did, when Lila first approached her. She turns back to Marinette and tilts her head towards the direction of where Marinette was going and both girls start to leave.

Alix sneered at the what the girl said. "Deal with who-", Alix made to talk to the girl that started to walk away.

"Don't talk to her.", Aurore once again gets in Alix's face. "You're talking to me, not Mirei."

"Don't fight you two. Marinette has caused enough problems already, we don't need another feud.", Lila spoke softly, feigning innocence, she delivered a subtle insult. "Please don't fight.", she says in a tone that sounds as if she were pleading.

Kagami clicks her tongue, she stares at the Rossi girl and Alya, she see Alya starting to comfort Lila. Kagami can't help but feel sick as realization hits her. She looks behind the students and finds four uncomfortable looking students looking back at her. Among them a certain Bourgeois, the finds the blonde giving her a knowing look. "Look, Marinette's out of your class now, you can all leave her alone.", Kagami speaks again, "If I see any of you attacking her again, I will report you, for one, because you're doing exactly what you've accused her of, and second, if she gets hurt, someone is going to have to answer for it."

Alix smirks and shrugs, "You reap what you sow.", she says.

Aurore feels nauseous, she had heard good things about Marinette, but that changed, and she knew damn well it wasn't coincidence that it changed when Lila appeared. "Stay away from her, simple. Unless, you want teachers and the principal getting involved. Cause I know damn well what we saw was you tripping her like some cowered.", Aurore growled. She clicked her tongue, she was disgusted by the class. "At least come at her from where she could see you coming, coward.", her words are shot towards Alix.

Kagami glared at Alix, "Let's go Aurore.", she said. She stepped to the blonde and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling the girl away. She sighed and turned to look over her shoulder, she found Alya staring at her with a hard look. A look she gladly returned.

* * *

"Are you okay, Kid?", Plagg asks before Tikki does.

Marinette sighs and nods as she sits on the tiled floor of the bathroom, her bathroom. She had left school after that entire shit show, not wanting to stick around to answer questions from the students that intervened.

Tikki wears a soft sympathetic look, "Alya…"

"Yeah, she...really has it in for me now. They all do.", Marinette sighs again, she buries her face into her hands, her hair is slightly disheveled. She felt alone, she felt like she was fighting an uphill battle again, it was wearing her out. She'd been dealing with all this for months, it was eating away at her. She was starting to feel overwhelmed all over again. She ran her hands over her face and ran it through her messy bangs.

Tikki floated down alongside Plagg, both kwamis drew near until they landed on the human teens knees, they both sat on each knee. Tikki saw Marinette making progress, and it hurt her to see Marinette starting to go back to square one. The progress Marinette was making was being thwarted.

Plagg felt a mix of all kinds of things, his understanding of the humans was always a bit shaky, if he could avoid interacting too much with his masters, he would. But it appeared that this new master he had was very hard not to interact with. Maybe he had a soft spot for her because she was Tikki's chosen. He had many masters, granted, most of them were of the male species, he hardly had a female chosen, a male was usually the 'ideal' choice that Guardians went with, similar to how Tikki's chosen were mostly female. He knew there was a difference between the genders. Female masters were always a little softer and warmer, while the Males were usually hardened and cold. Although, in this case, his master was a child when he was chosen, just as Tikki's was. Both of their chosen were chosen so young.

Marinette groaned. She held her head in her hands. Her gaze was on the floor. What did she do to deserve this? Sure, she exposed Lila, once. It wasn't like she tortured the girl or anything, it was a mistake, one mistake she made with Lila, as Ladybug.

"Everything is going to be Okay, Marinette.", Tikki said softly.

Marinette clicked her tongue, Tikki's words were no longer providing comfort to her. The Kwami's words were starting to annoy her. Tikki didn't understand how she felt, what she was going through, Tikki didn't get it. Marinette bit her tongue. She screwed her eyes shut.

Plagg observed the girl, noticing how her shoulders tensed when Tikki spoke. He narrowed his eyes a bit. He turned to Tikki, it seemed she didn't notice the subtle change of her master's body language.

"You don't get it.", Marinette said softly, she swallowed thickly. "You don't understand.", she whispered. Things weren't going to be alright, things have changed, they changed the moment Alya had pushed her to the floor in the locker room, they changed more when Alix began to bully her, and then things changed forever when she had to turn on Chat Noir. Everything changed too much to ever go back to how they were. Her life had been fractured. Nothing would fix it. Things would never be the same again. She lost her friends, her best friends. She lost a boy who she loved like a brother. She released a shaky breath. She felt herself slipping back into that dark place. She wanted to hang on, she wanted to continue to hope. She wrapped her arms around herself and thought about Chloé, thought about how nice it would be to be held by the blonde again.

Tikki looked on for a moment, she wore a glum expression, she wanted to help, but it seemed that the more she tried, the more a wedge seemed to be put in between them, the more Marinette pushed her away, the less Marinette transformed into Ladybug, the more she felt the balance starting to tip in the Black Cat's direction. Marinette and her had a bond, a strong one, Tikki could feel whatever emotions Marinette felt when they were Ladybug, they were in sync, their life energy was in harmony and in balance. But Tikki could feel a change in their dynamic suddenly. Plagg and Marinette were starting to form a bond, it's odd, especially for how quickly it was happening, but Marinette was a special person, so it made sense that Marinette was capable of actually truly wielding the Black Cat Miraculous. The problem with Marinette now building a bond with Plagg was that the balance would have more destruction than creation, where too much creation was bad, too much destruction was far worse. The powers of the Black Cat would magnify, where the powers of the Ladybug would slowly dwindle. The balance was being tipped, but it was being tipped by the same person, so the damages to her well being wouldn't be as destructive as when Adrien was doing it.

"Marinette-", Tikki starts, but does not get the chance to continue.

"Quiet!", Marinette raises her head and suddenly barks. Her gaze is hard and cold for a moment.

And just like that, Tikki's voice is taken. Her voice is taken from her as her master's will suddenly washes over her.

The bathroom falls into an eerie silence. Plagg is wide eyed, Tikki is also taken aback, silenced and surprised. Marinette had just forced her will onto her kwami. Plagg is unsure of how to react, if he even should, or could, Marinette was technically his master too. Marinette may shut him down as well.

Marinette's eyes widened for a moment, realizing what she just did, she had forgotten that she could forcefully make Tikki do things, she forgot that, that was a power a miraculous holder had over their Kwamis. "Speak.", she says shakily. "I…", she breathes unevenly. "I-I'm so sorry. I forgot I could do that, I didn't mean to force my will onto you like that, Tikki-"

Plagg growled at the teen as he got in between Tikki and Marinette, "Enough, you are just as unworthy as he was!", Plagg says with a glare. "I refuse to be wielded by you any longer, return me- no, us, to Fu!", the Kwami yells. He knows that being in the hands of a human that was spiraling downwards, was never a good idea, he knew that humans unfolded new sides to themselves when they got desperate.

Marinette is taken aback for a moment, processing what Plagg just told her. She doesn't argue, she nods. "Okay-", she agrees. She isn't one to make off with the jewels, no, that isn't her.

"No!", Tikki cuts in. "Plagg, she made a mistake.", Tikki says as she flew passed Plagg to be between Plagg and Marinette. "She's never done this before!"

Plagg growls again, shaking his head, he's had enough, "Your love for her will cost you in the end! It may even cost me! I cannot remain with her like this! How long before she starts to force her will onto you more? How long before she'll start doing it with me!"

Those were the real questions. Questions Tikki did not want to acknowledge were ones that she would have about Marinette. Tikki frowns heavily, "Marinette made a mistake.", she says again, "I trust Marinette."

"I don't.", Plagg says, cutting in suddenly. "I don't trust her, the only reason why I didn't fight Fu on his decision was because I trust you and your judgement, you've never fallen into a bad wielders hands-'

"Neither have you!", Tikki scoffed, feeling a little defensive, she knew Marinette was spiraling, but the girl wasn't a complete lost cause. Marinette was human and humans made mistakes. "Yet...here you are, Plagg, it was your boy that nearly threw the entire balance off. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be in this position right now.", The Kwami of creation stressed, taking out all the facts. It was Adrien that had betrayed Marinette, not once, but twice. Adrien had told Marinette that they would stick together until Lila got caught, but what did he end up doing? He ended up leaving Marinette alone, he ended up hiding the fact that he knew what Lila was. Then Adrien betrayed Marinette as Chat Noir, trying to force her to return his feelings. No, none of this was her master's fault, it was the stupid boys fault. "He stranded you here and forced us to strip him.", Tikki continued. "Everything was okay until he started acting like a child and a coward."

Plagg was struck silent. He knew Adrien was at fault here as well, he knew that the boy had stranded Marinette in both her civilian and hero life. He knew these things.

Marinette sucked in a shaky breath, she felt her chest ache, she felt it was her fault the kwamis were fighting. "Stop, fighting.", She speaks softly. "Don't fight."

Tikki's eyes are watery, she turns to her master. "Marinette, you need to keep it together, you're all we have left in this fight against Hawk Moth. I know it's been hard, I know you've been struggling, and I know that maybe it's a little harsh coming from me, but you have to let Alya and everyone else at school go. You have to move forwards. You aren't just living for you, anymore...you're the protector of the people of Paris, and the world. You are the last line of defense against Hawk Moth, Marinette.", Tikki couldn't stress it anymore, she had to get through to Marinette, it pained her to say it, to tell the teen that she wasn't just some ordinary girl. Marinette was Ladybug, she was a Miraculous Wielder, she was a Warrior, protector of all things good , like the Ladybugs before her. Marinette was literally the only thing that stood between Hawk Moth and whatever world altering wish he had, the stakes were far too high and it was starting to frighten Tikki. The pressure was all on Marinette, at least until they found more allies.

Marinette grimaced slightly, she sighed deeply, "I'm trying. It's not that simple, Tikki.…", her eyes watered up as well. "I moved classes…", she tries to counter. She tries to make it seem as a good solution.

Tikki sucked in a breath, she knew that what she was going to say next, was going to hurt Marinette, but it was better than constantly getting hurt at the hands of people that she cared about despite being cast aside by them. "Maybe that isn't enough, Marinette. Maybe...you need to leave. Leave all of them behind at once."

"What are you...are you…", Marinette frowns sadly.

"Leave the school.", Plagg cautiously piped up. "Go to another one, move on, on a completely clean slate. Go somewhere where no one knows you, start fresh.", Plagg would have never seen any of this coming two years ago or even a year ago. He never would have foreseen himself sharing a master with Tikki and losing Adrien. It was unexpected, he expected Adrien to grow up, to get over Ladybug and get with Kagami, but clearly none of that happened. Here they were. Adrien stripped, Master Fu and Marinette the only other two involved in this war against the Akumas and their master. Plagg knew how difficult this all must be, especially for Marinette, but what he had trouble understanding was why Fu continued to allow Marinette to be as involved as she still was. He felt bad for her. Plagg frowned and made to speak again. but just as he was about to talk, two knocks came at the bathroom door, causing him and Tikki to fall silent.

Marinette turned to the door, "Yes?", she merely said.

"Uh, Honey, a friend of yours is here.", Sabine's voice spoke, muffled.

Marinette rose an eyebrow and turned back to the two Kwamis. "I'll be right out.", she said. She heard footsteps leaving.

"Friend?", Plagg said skeptically.

Tikki hummed, "Chloé?", the kwami guessed.

Marinette shrugged and shuffled about, getting up to her feet, she huffed a bit and got to the sink, she washed her hands and then dried them on a towel. "Look, you two go hide somewhere-"

"We're coming with you.", Tikki said sternly.

The teen raises her eyebrows.

Plagg merely nodded in reluctant agreement to Tikki's suggestion.

"Okay.", Marinette said, not wanting to fight the kwamis and as she agreed, both kwamis flew into her jacket pockets. She sighed again and finally walked to the door, she reached out and grabbed the door knob, she felt her heart starting to race in her chest. "Here goes.", she whispers to herself nervously. She slowly turns the knob and opens the door, she steps out of the bathroom and looks around and fairly quickly finds a certain Tsurugi leaning against the stairs to her room, arms crossed, a firm stony expression on her face.

Chocolate brown eyes look up and meet Ocean blue. "Marinette.", she says firmly.

Marinette tenses and she swallows thickly. "Kagami."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure I haven't established how old the characters are and timeline and what not, so I'll do that now (while also explaining it in the fic itself), for plot sake, Marinette is 15 turning 16 by the time we get to chapter 10. The fight against Hawkmoth has been going on for almost three years.
> 
> Also I've laid out how this fic is going to go, and well...it will get very angsty, a little dark and also bloody? I mean, there will be character injuries (Not yet). Chapter wise, we're looking anywhere from 15 to 25 chapters, depending on word count. Also as I was planning this all out, I must warn you guys, there will be a sex scene or two to come in a few chapters from now, I won't say which one. 
> 
> Anyways, see y'all anywhere from three days to a week from now, work has been crazy for me, I haven't had a day off in almost 2 weeks.
> 
> \\(T-T)/


	7. Mind Of Steel P.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette spills over, she cracks and unravels. 
> 
> And along with the problems Marinette faces, the guarded secrets start to spill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's an update.
> 
> Please excuse any mistakes I may have made.

Her and Kagami have a talk. A really, real talk. They have the longest conversation she's ever had- they've ever had. They talk about the small things first. Marinette is reluctant to share of course and Kagami is eager to unravel all the facts that drove Marinette to switching classes. They go at it for at least a half hour before Marinette starts to show cracks in her stories, before Marinette starts breaking. Before Marinette starts crying.

* * *

The look of horror and anger on Kagami's face, says it all, the Tsurugi is taken aback by everything she hears. Kagami can't believe it, she doesn't understand why everyone turned on Marinette the way they did, especially Adrien. How could everyone that knew the teen just choose Lila over someone they knew for much longer. Kagami clenches her jaw tighter and tighter as Marinette starts to spill more and more about the past few months that she's been enduring all alone, her fists balled up on the soft sheets of the teen's bed, her eyebrows furrowed. She listens and feels so many things, she also couldn't help but feel guilty. 

"-and then this guy wouldn't leave me alone, and then he kissed me-", Marinette whimpers out a sound like a kicked puppy.

And it's like Kagami sees red the moment she hears that phrase. She feels her heart drop to her stomach, she feels rage. She stops listening.

"What guy!", she can barely contain her voice, her eyes flash with rage as she turns her head, she faces that girl that had been dealing with so much, alone. 

Marinette realizes her mistake, she recoils, wanting to take it back. She turns away from the teen that wears the most furious look she thinks shes ever seen. "It's irrelevant-", she tries to say.

"Irrelevant! That asshole, whoever he is, forced himself onto you!-", Kagami stood up from the bed, furious, completely red faced, her fists were tightly balled up and shaking.

Marinette stands up, "Keep it down, Kagami.", she says, fear now flooding her face.

A look of surprise washes over the Tsurugi's face suddenly, "Have you not told your parents? Anything…", the teen asks, her voice dropping to a much more quieter tone, her lips are parted in shock.

Shame flashes over Marinette's face. "You don't understand-", she starts, she whispers. "There's so much more...more that...I just…", things she couldn't share, secrets she had to guard.

Kagami falls silent, her expression suddenly becomes unreadable, her lips close. 

Marinette looks away, no longer feeling strong enough to hold Kagami's strong gaze. She feels shame, sadness and loneliness. She feels like a burden. She revealed too much, she spilled so fast. She was afraid this would happen. Her lives had collided, her problems with Chat Noir had just piled up onto her problems in her civilian life. It was too much, too heavy for her to keep carrying and going forward. All these secrets forced her to bottle everything up, she couldn't truly confide in people...sure Chloé was now in her life, she helped a bit, but she only knew about Plagg. Chloé didn't truly know the depth of her pain and hurt. She couldn't tell anyone the depth of how and why she was so hurt. She merely sat back down onto the bed.

After what seemed like forever, Kagami speaks again, her voice is softer, more quieter. "Marinette.", she says.

Marinette slowly turns to face the teen. She says nothing, she just gives her, her attention.

"Did...he...do more to you?", Kagami struggles to finish her question, she swallows thickly as she feels another emotion causing her chest to ache, she feels her eyes burning and vision starting to blur.

Marinette knows what Kagami is trying to ask. Thankfully, she doesn't have to lie, "No...he just touched me...and kissed me a few times. It didn't get to that, I...that problem…", Marinette finds it hard to speak any further, she feels a knot in her throat. An odd yearning and longing building in her chest. She sighs deeply and wraps her arms around herself. "I...just...there's...he was...all I had left.", Marinette says. As if trying to justify what was happening to her, what had been happening to her.

Kagami's face falls slightly, "You...cared for him?"

Marinette looks away. "Yes, I loved him, but I loved him differently than he loved me.", she admits. "I...thought about it...being with him, letting him have his way…", she releases a shaky breath, she closes her eyes and tears escape her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. She knows how it sounds, she knows that her words would weigh heavy upon any ears that heard them. She opens her eyes and finds a sad look on the Tsurugi's face, she sees those chocolate brown eyes tearing up, "I've shared too much.", she concludes. She feels herself go back into that dark place. She feels she's let enough out. Enough to not overflow too quickly again.

Kagami can't help but feel sick, she can see so clearly that Marinette was trying to justify things for all the wrong reasons. She can see that Marinette wanted to carry this all on her own. It hurt her, to see someone as sweet and as good as Marinette, going through all of this alone.it hurt her that Marinette had been keeping this to herself. "Marinette.", she says a little breathlessly. She didn't understand why Marinette felt the need to continue to endure. "I don't think you've shared enough.", Kagami says, she steps closer to Marinette and sits down beside her, closer, their knees touch, she brings her hands up to Marinette's tense shoulders, she makes the girl face her. 

Marinette is a little startled, but she collects herself. She says nothing. Afraid she'll say too much.

"Marinette, you don't have to continue to justify the wrong things that other people have done to you, you don't have to make excuses for people that do wrong. You don't have to sacrifice your happiness.", Kagami says, her eyes never leaving Marinette's own.

The words strike something deep inside Marinette. It resonates with her. But she puts aside her feelings and shrugs, turning away. "You wouldn't understand.", she says, it's her go to excuse. An excuse that Kagami doesn't buy. An excuse that Marinette uses to cope and hide behind.

"Then help me understand, Marinette.", she says firmly, her watery gaze hardens slightly. "Help me, help you.", her voice shakes a bit. Her eyes search desperately, trying to get the teen to meet her gaze again.

Marinette keeps her head turned away, refusing to continue.

Kagami releases a heavy sigh, she wasn't willing to let this go, no. She couldn't walk away from Marinette, she couldn't just leave her here, not after hearing everything she's heard so far. She knew there was more, so much more to all of this, she knew Marinette was holding back, she just couldn't understand why. "Marinette, please, talk to me.", she pleads, close to begging, and she never begs.

"Leave me alone.", comes a whispered response to Kagami's pleading.

Kagami's eyebrows furrow, she presses her lips into a tight line, her hands still softly gripping the teens shoulders. She falls silent.

Marinette grieves the loss of her many bonds, there's a gaping hole in her chest, she lost everything. Lila's lies took her friends, and Chat Noir's desires took him from her. Alya's betrayal hurts her everyday, being behind Chat Noir's stripping made her feel guilty. She blames herself, because had she just given them all what they wanted, maybe...maybe none of this would have happened. Maybe she and Lila would have been able to become friends, maybe she could have helped Lila change for the better, maybe if she just gave Chat Noir the chance he wanted, maybe he would have been a good significant other. Everything would have been okay. 

"I'm so sorry, that you feel you can't trust me.", Kagami speaks again, she pauses to swallow thickly. "I really want to help you, I really...just want help you."

Marinette slowly turns her head to the teen, she sees the strong Tsurugi on the verge of tears. "I did this to myself.", she says, she makes up her mind. She blames herself. Accepting it. "You reap what you sow.", she says out loud. She chuckles softly, bitterly.

Kagami's lips part like a fish out of water, she can't believe what she just heard.

"If I just gave them all what they wanted...maybe...maybe I wouldn't be here. Maybe everything at school would have been perfect, maybe...me and the guy would have worked out, maybe...he really is destined to be with me…", she whispered out the last part. Her gaze flickers away from Kagami's own.

"What?", Kagami asks, confusion becomes clear on her face, unsure if she heard Marinette right. 'Destined to be with her?', She thinks to herself. She snaps out of thought, she returns her focus to the conversation. "Marinette, none of this isn't your fault. You stood up to Lila because she's nothing but a liar, and- and with that guy, you shouldn't be forced to reciprocate anyone's feelings. Marinette, you have the right to stand up for what's right, you have the right to turn people down. You shouldn't feel guilty about anything. None of this is your fault.", Kagami wants Marinette to understand. She wants the teen to know that she shouldn't feel obligated to excuse other people's wrongdoings. "You're a good person, you did right by calling Lila out, you did right by pulling away from that guy. You are the victim here, not them-"

Something in Marinette snaps, she shifts and slaps Kagami's hands off her body, she gets off the bed and stands up. "I'm not a victim.", she nearly growls. 

Kagami flinches away, her mouth is agape.

Marinette clicks her tongue, she was going to open her mouth again, she was going to talk, but before she could, she felt one of the two kwamis suddenly pinch her side. "Ngh!", she flinches and brings a hand over her side, she holds a kwamis through her jacket, she feels the kwamis against her skin.

"Marinette?", Kagami stands up as she sees Marinette bend sideways slightly. Concern flooding her.

Marinette clenches her jaw, she doesn't know what's going on, why one of the kwamis was pinching her, why it seemed like the kwami was trying to make her look stupid. She feels the kwami struggling against her hand and through the fabric of her clothes. She was going to tell Kagami to leave, but before she could talk again. The Unexpected happened.

"Stop it or Plagg will bite you.", came a muffled voice.

And Marinette knows Kagami heard it.

Kagami steps back.

"Damn it, stop.", Marinette cursed as she started to pat her body in search of Tikki, but just as she almost grasped the lump that was moving around her clothes Tikki does something that completely changes everything.

"No!", Tikki says firmly, her voice was clear and not muffled, she suddenly escaped the Teen's clothes and appeared in front of Marinette, she floated between a baffled and shocked Kagami and an angry Marinette.

"Let me go!", came another muffled voice.

Tikki gave Marinette a hard look, she searched her master's eyes and as Tikki did this, she saw Marinette's angry expression melting away.

"What are you doing?", Marinette asks, she looks passed Tikki to a shocked Kagami. "What have you done? Tikki, you've jeopardized everything." The teen is tense, she desperately searched Tikki's eyes, trying to find an answer for what her Kwami had just done.

Plagg grumbled and left Marinette's clothing through the collar of her shirt, feeling a little agitated and angry over what Tikki and Marinette had just done. Marinette smothered him and Tikki exposed them. "I agree with the kid. What have you done!", he asks his fellow kwami quite furiously. He didn't understand what was going through Tikki's mind the moment she decided to expose them. It was like the roles were reversed, Tikki was being reckless one and he was being the reasonable one.

Tikki wears a hard look. She doesn't feel compelled to explain herself at the moment, especially to Marinette. She was starting to act on her own, she knew that if she didn't act, Marinette would crumble eventually, as much as she wanted Chloé to be enough for Marinette, Tikki knew that Marinette would only heal if someone knew Marinette's real duty, as Ladybug, not The Black Cat. Tikki figured that maybe Marinette needed someone human, someone who may just understand her, someone who could be trusted. Tikki made this decision and she would deal with the consequences of this decision should there be any. But right now, at this moment, Tikki decided that Kagami was enough and truly worthy of knowing Marinette's secret. Tikki sighs deeply and ignored both Plagg and Marinette, she turns around and faces Kagami. "Hello, I am Tikki. I am the Kwami of Creation. The Ladybug Kwami."

Plagg and Marinette freeze.

Kagami's mouth opens and closes, she looked between Marinette and the two Kwamis, she slowly starts to put everything together. "Wait...wait…Marinette, you're, Ladybug?"

Marinette feels exposed all of a sudden, she doesn't like it. She turns to Tikki, her angry expression returns. "You...you exposed me.", she says breathily, trying to contain her frustration, her eyes started to tear up, she felt betrayed. 

Tikki sighs and turns to face her master, she sees the broken angry look that lingers on the teens face. "Kagami offered to help you, Kagami cares about you, Marinette. She can give you the help I cannot, the help that you need."

"Help? I don't need help.", Marinette huffs, struggling to contain her anger.

Kagami doesn't know what to say, how to respond, if she even should. She merely stands by and sees Marinette red faced at the Kwami.

Tikki hardened her expression, "Marinette, You're stuck. You need someone to help get you out of where you are, I can't do it, Master wouldn't be able either, and your parents wouldn't be able to either. You're all alone, vulnerable, with no Black Cat and no allies.", Tikki wants Marinette to understand why she did what she did. Sure, maybe she did something extremely reckless, but she was sure, Kagami could make for a good ally, the girl was smart, strong willed and genuine. Kagami was a good fit for a Miraculous, whether it be the Black Cat, or another one, she just knew there would be a benefit to having Kagami on their side. 

Marinette turns away, she crosses her arms over her chest, "I have Chloé…", she whispers, her voice breaks slightly.

"Chloé knows about Plagg, and I think that's enough. She's a good person deep down. But I cannot justify revealing myself to her, The guardian would not agree with it.", the Kwami of creation floats closer to Marinette. "Kagami has a match aura...to you"

Plagg's eyes widened slightly, "Wait, wait...You're saying she's Cat material?", Plagg draws near to both Marinette and Tikki, it starts to dawn upon him, the words Tikki spoke. 

Kagami is lost, she looked between the three standing before her, she doesn't understand much of what's going on, all she got from this entire thing was that Marinette was Ladybug and that Marinette had not one, but two Kwamis.

Marinette's eyes widened for a moment, she gives her attention to Tikki. "What do you mean?"

"From the start...when you and Kagami first crossed paths...I just felt it, didn't you?", The kwami asks. It was simple to her, all humans had this thing that just surrounded them, she could feel it, she could tell what kind of a person someone was by feeling the air around a person. She knew Marinette was a pure hearted person, she knew Marinette was lovely both inside and out from the start. So of course, naturally she felt about the air around all of Marinette's friends and acquaintances. Tikki wanted to see the type of humans that surrounded her master. She had felt the air about Alya before she started doing it with everyone else, she concluded that Alya was kind, but also a fierce force to not be messed with. From there, she just started doing it by default, it was one of her many abilities. Among those that Marinette had surrounded herself with, Tikki found potential in a few people, Kagami being one of them. The girl was the polar opposite of Marinette, she was confident, disciplined and cold, where Marinette was bashful, clumsy and warm. It was almost a startling match in Tikki's eyes. "Do you not feel the potential between you and Kagami?", she asks.

Marinette's eyebrows furrow slightly. She doesn't understand.

"Kagami's nothing like the other kid…", Plagg suddenly chimes in. "She could be The Noir to your Ladybug.", He hums as he starts to put the pieces together. Kagami was no coward like Adrien was, she was brave, strong and confident. Kagami had the qualities of a Black Cat, Plagg actually thought about it. "What about the other kid?", he can't help but ask. He knows it's ridiculous for him to even bring Chloé up as a potential candidate, but he had to be honest, Chloé was more than what she appeared.

Marinette sighed deeply, she rose a hand and pinched the bridge of her nose while her other hand dropped to her side. "Ugh...Couldn't we have talked about this all in private?", she groans, her watery eyes cause her lashes to get slightly wet with tears that had been held at bay.

Tikki nodded, "No.", she said firmly, she huffed and turned around to face the Teen they had just been openly discussing about, "You would have just turned the other way.", her eyes meeting Kagami's own.

"Um.", Kagami suddenly clears her throat, getting the attention of Plagg and Marinette. "Uh…"

Marinette frowns heavily, her secret was out, a secret she didn't feel like sharing with anyone. Chloé finding out she was a Miraculous wielder was a little stressful, but Kagami finding out she was the Ladybug...well, yeah. "Kagami.", she starts, she shrinks slightly, she feels herself growing a little nervous. "I am Ladybug and I didn't plan on sharing that part of myself with anyone until Hawk Moth was caught and stripped of his Miraculous.", she crosses her arms over her chest again. "No one knows about my being Ladybug...and no one was supposed to know.", she says softly, she brings a hand up to her hair and pushes her bangs back. 

Tikki and Plagg both fall silent as she they look on.

Kagami releases a heavy sigh, "I could tell...so...is this the 'You wouldn't understand', aspect of your life you've been throwing around?", she crosses her arms over her chest, she tries to compose herself, but now it feels like she's standing before a totally different person, someone superior.

Marinette's expression drops a bit, she nods. "Yes.", she replies.

Kagami blows a breath, she starts to actually process it. The reveal that just happened, and how shitty Marinette's life had become. The kwami looked desperate when she exposed Marinette, and Kagami felt that she now had to prove the Kwami right. "You...chose me…", she suddenly brings up. "To fight alongside you once, and I blew it.", Kagami says and reminds the trio. Because Marinette had once given her the dragon Miraculous, only for her to quickly expose herself.

The ravenette remembers this, she remembers the time that Kagami is referring to. She sighs. "You didn't know better.", Marinette says softly. She feels all her anger dissipating. She relaxes and calms down. "Look-"

"Was the guy that did those things to you...Chat Noir?", Kagami suddenly asks.

Plagg and Tikki both tense.

Marinette feels her chest ache all over again, her eyebrows twitch at the mention of her old partner, she feels a knot in her throat. She doesn't answer.

Marinette's silence is all Kagami needs to truly begin to understand exactly why Marinette was going through. She wears a soft frown, she softened her gaze sympathetically.

"Marinette was willing to throw her happiness away and completely destroy everything she stood for, in an attempt to fulfill her duties.", Tikki speaks up, she frowns sadly, "Chat Noir wasn't willing to do anything unless Marinette reciprocated his advances. It was coming to a point where Marinette would have to eventually surrender herself completely to him…"

Marinette looks away, not wanting to see the look on the Tsurugi's face. Because everything Tikki said was true. She was willing to sacrifice herself and wellbeing in order to make Chat Noir act and fulfill his part. She would have stood with him. She was close to surrendering to his will.

"Listen kid, there's a balance, one that cannot be tipped too far in one direction.", Plagg soon joined in. "To every Ladybug, there must be a Black Cat, one that can fulfill their part of their duty while also providing protection to the Ladybug.", Plagg explains.   
Kagami nods, understanding everything. It all makes sense, and it makes Kagami's anger return briefly. She felt anger because Chat Noir had been hurting the person he was meant to protect. She balled her fists up, she had all the information she needed to help Marinette. So that's what she was going to do. She pressed her lips into a tight line and she suddenly started to step towards the ravenette.

Marinette hums softly and she turns to see what Kagami was going to do, but just as she does, Kagami wraps her arms around her and holds her tightly. She feels a little odd, but after a few seconds, she starts to reciprocate, slowly raising her arms up, she wraps then around Kagami. They hug. It's one of the very few hugs they've shared together.

"Geez, Marinette. You really are something extraordinary.", the Tsurugi whispers, she chuckled softly.

The Dupain-Cheng immediately feels a sense of safety come over her, she relaxes and allows her body to mold against Kagami's own, she blushes slightly. "I'm sorry.", she says softly, apologizing. She closes her eyes. She feels sorry because she snapped at Kagami, she feels sorry because she felt like she was dragging Kagami into her mess.

"You've done nothing wrong.", Kagami says, "I just want you to start coming to me from now on, I want you to talk to me, I want you to know that I'm here for you. I'm still shaky when it comes to friends, but I know better than to leave a person I care about, to struggle on their own."

Marinette releases a deep breath. She doesn't know what it is, but as she releases that breath, she feels as though she had been holding her breath for a very long time. She holds the teen tighter, almost clinging to her for dear life. "You're an amazing friend.", she breathes. 

Kagami smiles. She feels that this was the start of something much deeper between them. Something real. She cared for Marinette, but she always felt that everytime she tried to get closer, Marinette would step back and keep her at a distance. She understands now, she gets it. 

Plagg turns to Tikki. "So, Black Cat?", he asks a little impatiently. His voice isn't loud enough for the humans to hear him.

Tikki looks on, observing the two. "Maybe.", She says, she turns back to Plagg, "Chloé and Marinette made a good team too. Let's keep that door open.", she suggests, because in all honesty, Chloé was certainly a potential candidate. "For now, Marinette will be your holder, only giving the ring to a chosen temporary Black Cat, Plagg."

Plagg sighs, he nods. He can't help but feel as though Tikki was the bossy one. The kwami was starting to make some really big and bold decisions. He couldn't help but notice how Marinette would constantly submit to Tikki's words and suddenly as he thinks this, realization washes over him. Marinette usually took heed of what Tikki said, the teen would in fact listen to what the kwami said and suggested. Plagg turns to look at the teens that were still holding each other. Tikki always said that Marinette never threw commands around, that Marinette never told her what to do, the Dupain-Cheng gave Tikki freedom and respect. He could see why Tikki was trying to hold Marinette together. He knew that masters like Marinette were hard to come by. Kwamis and their master usually had a tough time getting along, the humans usually always called the shots, always ignoring them and just seeing them as mere beings meant to be used to do good in the world. Nothing more, nothing less. Adrien had saw him as a duty to be fulfilled, the boy never took his advice when and if he gave any, the boy never listened to him. But, Marinette had in fact been listening to him...as well as Tikki. "Huh.", Plagg hums. It's like an epiphany, Marinette was willing to return them back to Fu, she didn't argue. Plagg deduces what may be the reason why Fu so strongly relies on Marinette so much, why Fu trusts Marinette so deeply. Because Marinette isn't selfish, sure she made some errors, but the girl would usually fix them, she would take whatever consequences came from her actions and work through them. The teen wasn't a loose cannon like he thought she was, the girl was in fact a good choice. Marinette was willing to go to great lengths to fulfill her duties as the Ladybug. Plagg suddenly feels a weight place itself over him, he can't help but remember of the very few other Ladybugs that also shared the same mentality that Marinette seemed to lock herself in when push came to shove. The instances that the caused Tikki to grieve so deeply that her pain would shake the balance between himself and her. 

A Mind of Steel wasn't and isn't always a strength.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Golly, alright, so there's something I have to explain here. The title of this Chapter is Called Mind Of Steel P.1, which means there will be more parts to 'Mind Of Steel' and there will be more to this, but those parts aren't going to be coming one after the other. You see, what I'm going to be doing, is making each 'Mind Of Steel' go deeper into the depth of what Marinette is thinking, feeling, how she processes things and how her experiences and the things that happen to her, change her as a person. So like, it'll be like one long (spread apart) Character development arc, for Marinette on top of the ongoing fic (like...one shots within the fic?). Each 'Mind Of Steel' chapter will be spread out among the fic's chapters.
> 
> And...wait for it....
> 
> I'll also have a short, 'Dents In Steel' arc (like four or five chapters), can y'all guess what that means for Marinette's 'Mind Of Steel'? (Hue, hue, hue)
> 
> This fic just got out of hand, I swear...like XD
> 
> We looking at 30 or 35 chapter (including the whole 'Mind Of Steel' and 'Dents In Steel' thing. 25 chapters is without the two side arcs.
> 
> Next Chapter you'll get some Adrien, Lila, and Alya. (Hue, Hue, Hue.)
> 
> Feel free to drop comments/critiques/questions.


	8. Ladybug and Noir P.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nightmares, Adjusting and the beginnings of Miraculous shuffling; it can't get anymore complicated, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's an update!
> 
> Sorry for the wait!

_It can't be worse._

The voice is soft, it's just above a whisper.

A single sapphire eye snapped open. A soft cough escaped passed chapped lips. Her head turned to one side, pain immediately racked through her body. "Nngh.", came a slightly gurgled grunt, she suddenly felt liquid copper fill her mouth, she quickly turned over to her side and spat out the awful liquid, her eye widened as she saw crimson splatter on the glass and rubble littered cement ground next to her. She sucked in a shaky breath and started to feel panic flood her. "Wh...at…", the word came out broken, she winced as she felt more and more pain washing over her, her jaw felt like it was on fire along with the left side of her face and head. Slowly she brought her right hand to her face, finding that her left arm wasn't moving. She slowly shifted to sit on her knees, she touched her face and pulled the hand away from her face to look at it, she grit her teeth upon seeing her hand soaked in crimson. Her breath left her as something passed her crimson fingers caught her eye, she slowly looked up from her hand and her eye widened.

Fire, destruction, carnage. Ruins of what was her home City.

Lips part open. 'No…', she thinks to herself, she tries to quickly get up to her feet, but she regrets that choice when pain shocks through the left side of her body. "NNGH!", she grits her teeth, clenching her jaw and screwing her eye shut, trying to calm herself, trying to force herself to not think of the pain. 'What's happening.', she thinks to herself. She can't help but feel dread and sorrow starting to flood her. She sucks in a breath and uses her good arm and leg to slowly get herself up to her feet. She huffed heavily, feeling out of breath, she starts to look around herself, she sees damage and ruins, nothing but destruction laid all around her. Nothing was left intact. She presses her lips into a tight line.

She hears nothing but the crackling of fire and the soft thuds of falling debris and rubble. They echoed loudly.

She breathes unevenly, she starts to slowly limp towards a path ahead of her. She huffs and puffs softly, wincing every now and then. Many thoughts crossed her mind as she walked for what seemed like forever, until she finally made it to where the eiffel tower was supposed to be. A heavy frown took her lips, she winced as she felt the tug of the frown, irritate whatever injury she had gotten on her face.

"_If you would have just given me the miraculous, none of this would have happened."_

Hawkmoth's voice echoes, it booms around her, it sends chills down her spine. She finds herself turning around quickly, ignoring the pain that racked through body and just as she found the man responsible for Akumatizing people walking towards her, she suddenly felt herself losing her balance, she felt as if some force had pulled her back off her feet. She closed her eye and released a yelped as she found herself falling onto her back, she felt all breath leave her.

"_I only tell people what they want to hear."_

Sapphire is met by the sight of a familiar yet not really familiar bathroom ceiling, she groans and sits up, she finds herself inside the bathroom inside her school, but not really. The bathroom she currently laid in, was destroyed, there was nothing but rubble and broken glass. 'Lila.', she thinks to herself.

"You're everything I hate in this world, Marinette."

Shivers and chills run over her body, "Why?", She opens her mouth before really thinking her words through, she slowly sits up. She sees Lila, perfectly intact, leaning against the cracked and crumbling bathroom wall, smiling at her, her eyes not really looking at her, but through her. "What did I ever do to you?".

Lila snickers softly, innocently. She looks out of place inside the bathroom. She's a juxtaposition. She sighs softly after a moment, she breaks her dark gaze off of Marinette and slowly starts to get off the wall and she begins to walk towards a broken mirror, "You're perfect.", she says, her words come out just above a whisper. She reaches out and grabs a rather large shard of glass. Her hand starts to bleed as she takes it out from where it was. Her hand grips it tightly.

Marinette winces as she sees the blood running down the brunette's arm, she sees it stain the sleeve. "Lila-".

"Quiet.", she says softly, the word is hollow and cold, Lila turns towards her, holding the shard of glass. She begins to steps towards Marinette, drawing closer and closer, stopping once she was at the foot of where Marinette's feet were, she stands there, holding the shard and looking down on her.

Marinette is afraid suddenly.

Lila smiles again. She starts to step again, she steps over Marinette's legs, a foot on either side, she then suddenly drops her knees and straddles the ravenette, she leans a little close and brings up the shard of glass, putting it in the space between their faces, "Well, you were, perfect.", she suddenly grins darkly, "Take a look, Ladybug...or rather, Marinette."

And Marinette does, she sees the left side of her face all bloody, her hair stained crimson, sticking onto some parts of her face, her left eye was swollen shut. She hisses through her teeth.

"This suits you", Lila comments, "It's more realistic.", the brunette smiles and suddenly drops the shard onto the floor, it shatters. "You were too good, too perfect, too unreal.", Lila kept her bloody hand up, an angry cut on the inside of her palm, blood trickling. "You were the girl that had everything.", Lila's gaze grows malicious, her smile grows darkly, she reaches out with her injured hand and suddenly she grabs messy bangs, pulling at the hair tightly, her blooded trickled down the right side of Marinette's face. "In your world, there is no room for me."

Marinette whimpers softly, "S-Stop.", her bottom lip quivers. She grimaces as Lila's blood enters her eye and stings, "Nnn...Stop.", she grits her teeth.

"Why don't you make me?"

And as Marinette was going to speak again, she feels everything around her fade away, she opens her eye but just as she does she was stricken across the face, hard enough to be knocked back onto her back once more.

"_We could have had everything together."_

Marinette knows that voice, she somehow just...knows it. She coughs and feels the right side of her face burning, she cringes, thinking that, that was her good side. "Chat...Noir?", she whispers softly, she groans in pain and turns to her side and slowly starts to get up.

"Yes, Milady?", his voice is cold and distant. The voice sounds nothing like Chat Noir's own, it lacks the warmth it used to carry, yet despite that, Marinette knows it's him.

Marinette turns to look over her shoulder, she says nothing as she sees her old partner standing before her, crossed arm with a wicked grin, a bloody baton in hand.

"You look like you've seen better days, Milady. You got, a little blood…", Chat speaks sarcastically, his gestures around his face.

Marinette feels her chills run down her spine. She feels uncomfortable under the boys gaze. "Chaton...why...why…", she feels tears stinging both her eyes. She feels guilt and sadness weighing heavily on her. She gets to her feet, stumbling slightly.

The blonde's playful expression darkens suddenly, it melts away and is replaced with a look of disappointment. "Why?", he hums and begins to step towards her.

Marinette shivers and starts to step back, stumbling, limping. "Chat…"

"Everything would have been okay if you had just...loved me back like you were supposed to.", Chat Noir frowns heavily.

"Everything would have been okay, if you had just gone with the flow.", Lila suddenly appears, casually stepping over rubble, she hops down a busted fountain and gets beside Chat Noir. Both walked side by side, walking towards a scared Marinette.

"Everything would have been fine if you had just given me your miraculous.", Hawkmoth walks down some steps to Marinette's right. "If you had just done what we wanted, none of this...would have happened."

Marinette feels herself getting more and more cornered, there's nowhere to go for her, nowhere to run, she was being backed into a wall by Hawkmoth, Chat Noir and Lila. They were cornering her. She continued to step back carefully, her eyes shooting between the trio that were drawing closer and closer. "I...I-I...Chat-Ahh!", suddenly her words turned into a surprised yelp. She slowly looked down, breaking her eyes off the trio that were now just standing, she finds a blade sheathed through her chest, crimson starting to drenched the front of her chest, her lips tremble as she feels copper flooding her mouth.

_"If you had just done what everyone else wanted."_

Marinette shakes and slowly turns her head, tears escaped her eyes, running down her dirty cheeks. Her swollen eye stings as it opens just a little bit along with her other eye.

Sapphire eyes stare back at her.

Marinette feels something leaving her as she takes in the sight of who had just impaled her with a sword. She feels something inside of her sinking.

It was...her-

* * *

"-nette!"

"-id!"

"Marinette!"

Sapphire eyes snapped open, she gasped for air, and chokes, she's shaking, she feels wet and sticky.

"Marinette!", Chloé's voice suddenly pulls Marinette from her daze, the blonde is looking at her with great concern, her hands on her shoulders, shaking her. "Marinette breathe!", the teen says, her voice cracking.

And Marinette lets out a breath and she gasps all over again, she felt her lungs burning, she felt as if she had been deprived of breath. Marinette panted, she felt one of Chloé's hand gently cradle the side of her face.

"Marinette.", The heiress says softly, blue eyes were slightly teary, "Hey, hey, relax.", her other hand is brought up and places itself over Marinette's sweaty forehead, she gently pushes the hairs that had stuck onto the sweaty skin, back. "You're burning up.", she says a little shakily.

Marinette sighs and swallows thickly, she doesn't move away from Chloé, she stays still. She notices the sensation of her hair being wet, she can feel how drenched the pillow was. She feels dirty.

"Kid, what happened?", Plagg suddenly pops up beside Chloé, concern on his face.

Marinette groans and nods her head side to side. Words not coming to mind.

The heiress sighs softly, she gently runs her hand from the side of Marinette's face to the teen's chest, she feels the heart thumping hard and fast. "You weren't breathing and you were struggling in your sleep.", Chloé speaks softly, she removes her other from the warm sweaty forehead, "Did you have a nightmare?", she asks slowly, her gaze is soft.

Marinette swallows thickly as everything starts to come back to her, she sighs and turns away from the blonde and her kwami, she sees the time, "It's 3 in the morning-", she mumbles.

Chloé's eyebrows furrow, "Marinette, talk to me.".

Marinette grunts softly and turns her head back to the two concerned looking expressions. "It was nothing.", she breathes, a little out of breath.

The blonde is not going to have it. Her expression hardens, her eyebrows furrow in a way that indicates that she wasn't going to just let this slide. "Marinette, please.", she says, her eyes searching Marinette's own.

The teen sighs deeply, she swallows thickly. "I...it was just…I just had a nightmare.", she finally says, that's all she wants to share, she doesn't want to get into it, she knows that if she reveals more, Chloé would no doubt piece together that she is Ladybug, and Tikki told her specifically to not reveal herself to Chloé. "I...I don't want to share more.", she speaks again. She can't share too much, a part of her reminds herself.

The heiress looks a little disappointed. But she concedes and slowly nods. "Okay.", she says softly, her face shows concern. She removes her hands from the Dupain-Cheng's body and slowly starts to shift back into her space on the bed, she lays on her side, facing away from Marinette. Her eyes remain open.

Plagg narrows his eyes, he looks between the two girls in the bed, he says nothing as he merely floats above them.

Marinette swallows again, she feels guilt. She knows Chloé only wants to help, she knows the blonde has done nothing but help her. She feels like she's being ungrateful. She sucks in a shaky breath, she shoots Plagg a look as she remains on her back. "I had a dream about Lila.", she says, she leaves Hawkmoth and Chat Noir out of it.

Chloé hums softly, she slowly shifts under the comforter and turns until she lays on her other side to face the teen. She stares at the side of Marinette's face, "You were struggling in your sleep.", the blonde says softly.

Marinette shrugs, she slowly reaches out and gestures for Plagg to come closer.

Plagg raises an eyebrow and slowly draws near and as he does, he is immediately taken from the air as Marinette grabs him once he's within reach. He finds himself awkwardly pressed against Marinette's chest.

Marinette sighs deeply, there's a longing in her chest, an ache. She misses Tikki and wishes that the kwamis she held against her chest was hers. "I was...being cornered by her…", she releases a soft shaky breath. She uses her thumb to gently stroke the top of Plaggs head as she holds him against her chest.

Chloé shifts closer, her eyes focused on the side of the teen's face. "Lila's a whole new kind of evil.", she can't help but comment. She knows what Lila is, the girl was smart and calculating, it was scary. She knew right off the bat that if Lila was capable of completely destroying Marinette and everything she was, then no doubt Lila would be able to the same to anyone else. Chloé chose her Battles more wisely. She had been trying to change as a person for a while, after being stripped of the bee miraculous, she figured she'd at least try to be a better version of herself.

"It's like...sometimes I wonder...what if I just did what Lila wanted me to do…", Marinette sighs softly, "What If I just...chose to be her friend and ignore her lies.", she spoke the things she thought.

"If you did that, than you would be lying to yourself.", Chloé said, "You aren't that kind of person, Marinette. You see something that's wrong and you act, you try to rectify it.", the heiress sighs, "I know that everything with Lila and the class has been weighing heavily on you and I know you've been dealing with so much unnecessary shit from them and now Hawkmoth.", blue eyes shine with affection, pink lips curl into a small smile. "Marinette, you'll catch a break, people like you always do."

Marinette turns her head to the side and she immediately locks eyes with the blonde and as soon as their eyes meet, Marinette feels something in her chest, she feels warmth flood her. The ache and tightness that was in her chest suddenly disappears. She finds herself suddenly put under some spell. She feels compelled to spill.

"You can always talk to me, Marinette. You aren't alone in this. I know that I haven't been the best person for the majority of the time we've known each other, but I promise you that I'm changing and that I really want to help you through this. Whatever you need, I'm here.", Chloé's words are sincere.

Marinette releases Plagg and swallows thickly, her eyes grew watery. She nods. The heiress's words mean so much to her. "I...I miss Alya sometimes.", she whispers softly. She starts to spill a little more. She feels her vision blur.

Chloé nods her head, she listens and speaks, "You two used to be so close, I didn't expect her to do the things she did."

Marinette feels her heart breaking all over again, and the tears start flowing, her lips part to release a soft whimper. She turns away from Chloé, she feels her chest tighten all over again.

Chloé sits up, quickly she adjusts her pillows against the headboard of the bed and she gets closer to the whimpering Dupain-Cheng, she wraps the teen up in her arms suddenly, pulling her up a bit, she feels Marinette sit up to curl into her chest, she opens her legs for Marinette's body to get between them. "Shh, it's okay.", she hushes the crying teen, she dips a hand into Marinette's damp messy loose hair, as the teen's head is against her chest, her back resting against the pillows.

"It's not fair. I did everything right.", Marinette sobbed, she wraps her arms around Chloé and clings to her, the left side of her face was against the heiress's chest. "I never gave them a reason to doubt me, I...was always there for them.", Marinette whimpers.

Chloé rests her chin on the top of the crying girl's head, she agrees, it wasn't fair. Marinette was a kind person, she always went out of her way for others. The Dupain-Cheng never lied, she never hurt anyone, she didn't deserve this. She sighed deeply and suddenly makes a choice, she decides that the first chance she gets, the first solid chance, she'll take Lila down and she'll make sure to give the others hell for turning on their everyday Ladybug. Alya and everyone else, were all going to come out looking like the assholes they all were. "It's going to be okay, it's going to take time, but eventually things always fall into place. People like Lila always slip up, it's only a matter of time before everyone pulls their heads out of their asses and figures out how full of shit Lila is."

Marinette breathes unevenly, her whimpers calming down.

"Nngh...help.", comes Plagg's slightly muffled whine.

Marinette and Chloe both hum and pull apart from each other to see Plagg roll out from between them.

"You were smothering me!", He complains, Plagg pouts.

Marinette blushes slightly and releases a small chuckle, "I'm sorry, Plagg.", she apologizes a little sheepishly. She had honestly forgotten about him.

Chloé smiles a little amused. "Forgot you were there for a minute.", she comments.

"RUDE.", Plagg scoffs.

Marinette smiles sheepishly. She feels better, she feels a little lighter. She sniffled softly and brings her eyes up, she meets Chloé soft gaze again, she feels her cheeks warm up. "I...I'm sorry for keeping you up.", she apologizes to Chloé now. She feels a little guilty for keeping the blonde up, for making Chloé listen to her cries and troubles.

The blonde merely shrugs, she reaches out and gently takes a hold of the side of Marinette's face, she uses her thumb to wipe away a tear, "It's fine. We're in this together."

Together. The word brings about bad memories and feelings, the last two people to tell her the phrase 'We're in this together', left her to fend for herself or just...betrayed her. She sighs softly as she breaks her gaze from Chloé's own, she looks down.

Blue eyes narrows slightly, "What's wrong?". Chloé can see the expression Marinette wore just drop immediately.

The teen brings her gaze up again, her lashes glistening with tears, "The last two people to tell me that, hurt me.", she admits and it hurts.

Chloé's eyes widened for a moment, she takes in what Marinette said, she softens her expressions and gaze and speaks, "They must not have meant it.", she says. She shifts to sit up straight, she wants Marinette to know how genuine she's being, how sincere she truly is. "Marinette, I promise, I'm here and god knows I've hurt you enough.", she brings her other hand to cup the other side of the girls face, she looks her deep into those watery Sapphire eyes, "I care about you.", she suddenly admits, "I...always have."

Marinette raises her eyebrows in what looks like surprise and shock, for a moment there's a mix of emotions that shoot across the teens face before one expression settles in. "Chloé.", she whispers softly, she wears a look of bewilderment. Chloé said she cared about her, always had. Yet, the girl treated her so poorly.

Chloé blushes and looks away for a moment, she feels a little embarrassed. Truth be told she never knew how to deal with her feelings and she ended up making an ass out of herself, she treated the girl she liked so poorly. "Let's get some sleep, yeah?", she breathes out a little nervously, cheeks burned red.

"Uh, Yeah…", Marinette nods, she shifts to give Chloé space, she feels her heart racing in her chest, she feels her face warming up.

The blonde pulled her hands back from Marinette's face and fixes her pillows, she dropped to her side, back facing the teen, she feels her body heating up, she felt her heart racing in her chest. "Good night, Marinette.", she manages to utter through her internal freaking out.

Marinette looks at Plagg and Plagg shrugs, "Uh, Y-Yeah. Good Night.", she says as she too shifts back into the position she usually sleeps in. She has a few new questions running through her mind suddenly. Chloe's words repeating themselves in her head. She sighs and silently lays on her back, she feels Plagg suddenly sit on her chest.

"Can I sleep here?", he asks.

"Yeah, just don't cataclysm me.", she jokes.

Plagg rolls his eyes.

She brings her a hand up and gently touches him, she uses the pad of her thumb to stroke the top of his head. "Good night, Plagg."

"Night, Kid, try not to snore."

"Shut up."

* * *

It's a month of Marinette adjusting, a month of nightmares, a month of sleepovers and her sneaking into Chloé's room late a night for late night cuddle sessions that turn her into putty in the blonde's arms. A month of her and Kagami building a tight bond together, a month of getting to know her 'new friends', friends Kagami recommended. A month of fighting Hawkmoth mostly on her own as Ladybug and sometimes even as Bug Noir, having used both Plagg and Tikki at once. The Dupain-Cheng is taking things slow, moving slow, she isn't quick to let the students in, despite knowing that they know the truth about Lila and the whole false accusations that were pinned on her. She's hesitant, she sticks by Chloé's side, or Kagami's side, she doesn't meet the gaze of any of her old classmates when they look her way.

Marinette is trying to move on, but she can't help but feel something tugging at her from the back of her mind.

* * *

It's been a month and a half. A month and a half since he was stripped of his miraculous, a month and a half since Ladybug and The Guardian betrayed him. He was angry of course, frustrated that they would do this to him, after everything he's done. He didn't and couldn't understand where he went wrong, why they decided to do what they did to him. He's spent the past few weeks in his thoughts, he didn't come back to school until two weeks ago, only to find the last sensible person, had switched all her classes. His anger grew. Adrien was angry and his anger only grew again when he saw the pictures of the new Black Cat surface, a girl who went by the name 'Noir', his anger could only grow more once he also saw 'Bug Noir', Ladybug wielding the ring of the Black Cat. He remembers sneering at his phone when he saw the pictures, he remembers cursing under his breath. He remembers thinking 'How's a girl going to protect Ladybug?', or 'How's Ladybug going to manage on her own', He's tried tracking Fu down, but he turned up with nothing, the man disappeared. He's also tried luring Ladybug his way, but that never worked out because he wasn't in the right places when Akuma attacks showed up. He knew he had to be patient, he knew that his moment would come, he would get his answers.

"You look like shit.", Chloé's voice suddenly pulled Adrien from his thoughts.

Adrien looked up, his expression was far from being warm, "Good morning to you too.", he mutters.

Chloé frowns and sighs, she walks away from him and walks over to her seat.

The dynamics of the entire class had gotten thrown out the window a while ago, for a time Adrien thought everything would go back to normal, he thought for sure everyone would realize how much of a liar Lila was. But none of that happened, things got worse and now that Marinette was gone, he knew things were forever screwed up. A part of him wanted to text the girl and ask what happened, he wanted to ask if she had done something to usher retaliation from their classmates. He knew that Marinette must have played a part in her own downfall. He had tried to tell her how useless it would be to stand up against Lila, he tried.

But Marinette was brash and thought she knew her 'friends'.

Jokes on her for not listening to him, Adrien thought at the time. He had been busy, too busy thinking about Ladybug to deal with any external things in his civilian life, after a time he just ignored Marinette's complaints and whines. He didn't have the time, which ended up resulting in a falling out between them.

He felt a little bad, but he tried to warn her of what would happen.

* * *

Marinette huffs as she runs to her first period class, she knows that she'll be late if she slows down for even a moment. She had unfortunately dealt with an akuma before school was to start that morning, she'd been up since 4am, trying to take down an Akuma, it took far too long and she barely handled it on her own. It certainly wasn't graceful. 4am was far too early for anyone to get akumatized. Marinette is pulled from her thoughts as she sees familiar faces ahead of her, she groans as she sees a few of her old classmates standing about outside the class. She knew they usually gathered about to chat before entering the class. She internally recoiled. She sighs and prepares to ignore them, she's ready to just run by them. But of course it's never that simple.

"Watch your step.", Alix said as she suddenly popped up and stuck her leg out, ready to trip the Dupain-Cheng.

Marinette saw it coming, with a deep frown, she jumped over Alix's foot. She ignored the gasps of surprises and murmurs. She didn't turn back to face any of them, she just continued on her way, eager to not be late to her homeroom.

'Just on time', Marinette thinks to herself as she enters her class just as the teacher is starting to do the attendance. "Morning.", she says as she speed walks to get to her chair in the back next to Kagami.

"You're just on time today, Marinette. But try to be earlier.", the teacher murmurs.

"Of course, sorry.", Marinette apologized and sat in her chair, she prepares herself to learn today's materials.

Kagami sighs and turns to her and quietly whispers. "Tough fight?", she asks. She knows about Marinette's fight against some akuma that popped up around 4 in the morning and frankly, she's a little upset that Marinette didn't come and get her for backup.

"Yeah.", The miraculous wielder answers.

"You know you could always come get me, right?", Kagami says softly. Her eyes wandered down to Marinette's lap to see Tikki and Plagg idly sitting and smiling up at her.

"Yeah, but it was far too early.", Marinette says, she leaned back in her chair a bit as she turns to her table mate.

4am was certainly very early in the morning. Marinette honestly wonders if Hawkmoth even sleeps at this point, the man was somehow always up and ready to akumatize people, it was very bothersome. Marinette knew she had an ally in both Kagami and Chloé, but she didn't want to bother them. She chose to fight most of the battles on her own.

The Tsurugi sighed, she couldn't help but grow worried about Marinette's wellbeing. She knew how determined Marinette was to carry everything by herself, she knew that the girl preferred to struggle on her own. "It doesn't matter how late or early it is, If you need help, I'm here and I'll gladly help you.", she spoke sincerely. The last thing Kagami wanted was for the ravenette to be overwhelmed in battle and hurt.

Marinette nodded slowly, she knew better than to try and argue with Kagami, the Tsurugi was certainly very stubborn. Maybe more so than her.

* * *

It's lunch time when Chloé's day as well as Marinette's day, gets a little longer.

Chloé sighed deeply, seeing her classmates all coming after Marinette quite relentlessly despite Marinette being in a totally different class now, was a little upsetting. She ignored all the rude remarks and comments everyone made about Marinette. It made her sick. She sighed deeply and turned to see Adrien wearing a scowl, the boy was clearly getting annoyed. After all, the trash talking was something that Adrien, Chloé and others that knew the truth, were getting sick and tired of listening to.

"I can't believe she ran away.", Alix merely said.

"All she had to do was apologize to Lila.", Mylene said as she crossed her arms over her chest, she frowned in dismay, she was disappointed in Marinette. She always thought the girl was kind and genuine, but clearly her jealousy over Lila getting closer to Adrien won out. At least, she thought.

Alya merely sat silently next to Nino, her scowl rivaling Adrien's own.

While the girls started trash talking Marinette, Kim felt his patience starting to run thin, he felt anger clawing in his chest. He was no coward, yet he had opted to hide behind feigned ignorance so as to not be targeted by Lila and her lackeys. But there was only so much he was capable of swallowing and keeping down. His fist balled up tightly as he heard his table mate, Alix, laugh about Marinette being a complete 'wuss'.

His temper tipped.

"ENOUGH!", Kim slammed his hand on his hand onto his table and shot up from his chair.

Everyone in the class was startled, they all looked at him in shock at his outburst.

"For fuck sake!", Kim cursed as he turned to Alix, "Leave the fucking girl alone!", He yelled, his face red with anger and rage, his heart racing in his chest, "She's gone! Enough!", he threw his arms up. He hated it, hated how everyone kept kicking the poor girl down despite already taking her down.

Ivan, Nino and Max shot up from their chairs.

"Chill out dude!", Nino yelled.

Alya and Adrien both looked at each other and got up from their chairs, Alya grabbed one of Nino's arms.

"Nino.", Alya spoke in a warning tone.

Juleka and Rose both swallowed thickly, both felt dread come over them.

Chloé had stood up and turned back, she felt surprise washing over her, someone stood up for Marinette? It was almost unreal.

Kim turned back and glared at Alya and Nino, "You two should feel ashamed of yourselves! Especially you Alya! You were her best friend!", Kim stepped towards Nino and Alya, he pointed a stiff finger accusingly at the brunette. "You fucked her over! You let this happen to her!", his voice only rose. All his pent up anger and guilt just spilled over. He saw through Lila's bullshit, why couldn't Alya?

Nino felt threatened by Kim's tone towards his girlfriend, and he reacted accordingly. He cocked an arm back and suddenly threw a punch. The class erupted in gasps and the sound of chairs harshly moving as students stood up to ensure they would be out of the way of what they knew would be a brawl.

Kim moved away before he could get hit in the face, stepping back, "You-!", he made to engage the boy in a fight, but just as he moved, arms wrapped around him from behind, holding him.

"Stop.", Chloé suddenly said as she pressed herself behind Kim, her arms wrapped tightly around the boy, a part of her knowing that her intervention would finally mark what side she was taking in this whole matter. "Don't.", she said as she stepped back to pull him away slightly.

It wouldn't just be Kim and Chloé that would be seen as being on the same side, more would finally make themselves known, seeing this an opportunity to draw a line in the sand that would forever change the class and friendships that were once thought to be unbreakable.

"Guys, Guys.", Lila suddenly piped up, she got up from the chair beside Adrien, "There's no need to let Marinette divide us any further.", she said with tears in her eyes, she was playing her usual victim card, she was ready to blame Marinette. "She's ruining us.", Lila said, faking a soft whimper. She then promptly leaned into Adrien's side and clung to his arm suddenly.

Kim's anger was only fueled further. "You're ruining us!", he roared furiously. Turned towards the brunette, Chloé still clinging to him.

"Cry me a river, bitch.", Chloé glared at Lila and backed Kim, her hands clutching the boys shirt tightly, her nails hurt.

Alya gasped and prepared herself to protect Lila. She was sick of Lila being targeted, she wouldn't let Marinette do it, so she definitely wasn't about to let Kim and Chloé put the girl down. "If anyone's a bitch here, it's you, Chloé!", Alya countered, her voice raising.

Adrien cringed and growled as he watched the class starting to tear into each other, he could see that they finally hit rock bottom. Lila's grip on his arm annoyed him, he felt his patience finally disappear, he could handle Chloé smothering him and clinging to him, but any other girl was just that, another girl. Personally, he wanted to stay out of it, but it appeared that he had no choice but to pick a side, and he chose to side with Chloé, as annoying and clingy as she was, she was all he truly had and before his mother disappeared, she told him to take care of her and love her, because she was like his sister. He slammed his hands on his desk. "Leave Chloé alone, Alya!", Adrien yelled at Alya now.

More gasps filled the room, Chloé tensed against Kim.

Surprise took over Nino's face, he turned to look at Adrien, "Bro!?", he gasped.

Lila turned to Adrien with shock on her face. Clearly not believing that the blonde sided with Chloé. But deep down she kinda figured that if push came to shove, the boy would choose Chloé, after all, even Gabriel warned her to not mess with Chloé directly.

"Get off me, Lila. I'm asking nicely.", Adrien took a dark tone, he turned to Lila and glared at her, further shocking the class.

Juleka frowned deeply. she looked on, she knew that this was the time to choose a side. She turned to Rose. "Rose?"

Rose turned to Juleka with a watery face and nodded. "We're on Mari's side.", She softly spoke.

Juleka nodded.

Alya returned Adrien's glare, "Chloé's being a bitch and you're yelling at me and being a dick to Lila!", she yelled at the blonde.

Lila grimaced and pulled away from Adrien. Backing away.

"Yeah, what the fuck, Agreste.", Alix piped up.

Ivan growled, he looked between his friends arguing.

Mylene intervened. "You're being a jerk Adrien, what's gotten into you."

Chloé growled and turned to Mylene, "Oh shut the fuck up, Mylene.", she said in Adrien's defense.

* * *

_"Well, well, well. Looks like my side project has pushed her playthings too far.", Hawkmoth chuckled darkly, he could feel the anger and rage brewing._

_"Adrien's in the class, sir."_

_"He'll be fine, He's on the same side as my target, he wont be in any immediate danger.", he sighed as he reached out to a butterfly and evilized it. "Go my little akuma, Evilize the angriest among those brats."_

* * *

"Leave Mylene alone!", Ivan finally got involved. He stepped in front of Mylene.

It was all back and forth.

"Shut up, Ivan!", Kim growled, turning his body towards Ivan.

"Come make me, Asshole!", Ivan yelled.

Adrien sneered and suddenly grabbed a chair and threw it across the room to get everyone's attention. It worked. "ENOUGH!", he yelled. Frustration and anger came over him, he didn't want to be apart of this, he had stuff of his own to deal with, but screw it all at this point, "This has gone on long enough, I'm sick of it, sick of hearing all this crap!", Adrien yelled, the class falling silent, everyone was listening for once. All eyes were on him. "Don't drag Chloé into this.", he spoke roughly in a warning tone as if he was warning the entire class, he then looked at Alix, "I heard what you've been doing to Marinette and frankly I'm pretty sure she can kick your ass if she really wanted to, why she hasn't, Is beyond me.", Adrien was sure Marinette was capable, he had witnessed the girl use some form of martial arts against a boy that was under Hawkmoth's Akuma's influence, he also couldn't help but notice how fit Marinette was.

Alix grimaced.

Chloé couldn't help but chime in, she knew that Marinette was capable, she was absolutely certain. "Of course she can, she can probably body all of us, one on one.", the heiress practically snorted.

Adrien continued, "You all call her the bully, yet here you all are, doing the very things Marinette was accused of doing. How hypocritical. All of you are no better.", he then turns to Lila, he glares at her. "I hope you're happy.", he says, he then turns to collect his things, getting ready to just leave, "and I honestly hope you all choke on your apologies after this, when you all wake up and realize. Marinette will certainly never want to talk to any of you again anyways.", he sighs deeply, he remembers his last conversation with Marinette, the girl was furious with him, so furious in fact, she told him to choke on his apology and words and then promptly said 'Fuck you' before pushing past him and leaving him to stand alone in the hallway. He knew then that Marinette and him were definitely not going to make up.

"Us, apologize?", Mylene yelled from behind Ivan.

"Yeah.", Juleka suddenly spoke up, causing everyone to bring their attention to her and Rose.

"You've all been so mean...cruel even. Marinette's done nothing but support us and be there for us, you all just turned on her-", Rose spoke but was quickly cut off.

"Mean!?", Alya yelled, she couldn't believe how many of their friends Marinette had brainwashed. It was infuriating. "Marinette was the one that started being mean and cruel! She fucking got jealous of Lila.", the brunette cursed and said out, she scoffed and glared at Chloé, Kim, Juleka, Rose and Adrien.

Adrien stares at Alya, it starts to finally set in. He starts to think about Ladybug's betrayal, how he had been abandoned by the last person he ever thought would leave him. "Fuck.", he curses and turns around to face Alya and Nino, it's karma, he thinks. He left Marinette, and Ladybug left him. He had been selfish and self centered. Marinette didn't deserve this and in all honesty, he should choke on his apology.

Lila watches a few feet away from Adrien, she sees that this ruckus may just be the beginning of the end of her reign over the class. Adrien finally stepped in. She balls her fists up and grabs at whatever she can to derail him. "I know you're just trying to protect your girlfriend, Adrien, but Marinette isn't as nice a person as you thought she was."

Lila steps far passed the line of return.

Adrien turns to Lila with wide eyes, he knows what this means, what this is. Lila was trying to throw him under the bus.

Everyone gasps.

"For fuck sake.", Alix curses, "She lets you into her pants, of course you're sticking up for her."

Adrien frowns heavily.

Alya scoffs, Alix's point makes sense. She wants to say something, but before she could, everything suddenly takes another turn.

Chloé sees that Adrien was about to get verbally attacked by the class, she knows it, she can see it on everyone's face, so she speaks up before any insults get hurled Adriens way. "Liar!", she let's go of Kim and steps past him towards Lila, she points her finger at Lila and says that first thing that pops up in her head, "Marinette's mine!", a lie for a lie, Chloé mentally reasons with herself through her blush, deep down she knows that problems may come from this, she knew she had to let Marinette know of this before anyone else did. "If she's anyone's girlfriend, she's mine.", Chloé spoke in her 'matter of fact' tone, arms crossed over her chest when she finished speaking, she held her head up high. She was determined to be as genuine as possible.

Adrien flinches for a moment but relaxes, Chloé saved him. "Marinette and Chloé are together.", he says as he slams a hand on his table. He goes with what Chloé said. "Wanna try to throw another lie?", he says. He knows that Chloé may have spoken a lie herself, but at the rate everyone was buying lies in this class, who would notice?

While Adrien corners Lila, Alya is frozen in shock at the news of Chloé and Marinette being together, she's at a loss for words. Alix's jaw practically dropped, Mylene is flabbergasted, Sabrina whom was trying to just stay out everything after her falling out with Chloé is completely baffled. Nino and the other boys are all processing the news.

Kim merely glares at Lila, he was sick of her and her lies, she ruined everything, the entire class came down on each other, people that knew each other for so long, all fighting among themselves. He hit his boiling point.

And maybe the class did too.

And suddenly everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please forgive any mistakes I may have made.
> 
> Sorry for the wait, I've just been type piling chapters is all, next update will be far sooner!


	9. Ladybug And Noir P.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette gets another chance to work beside a Black Cat (the one who's secretly a punny, annoying jackass) much to everyone's but hers, dismay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whale...here's an update.

"You know, Aurore's having a sleepover this weekend, would you like to attend?", Kagami asks Marinette casually as they walked side by side towards their next class together, just having finished their lunch just moments ago. Normally, sleepovers and such would be things that Kagami would not take part in, she preferred to stick to her usual schedule, her mother also always preferred she stuck to her usual tight schedule, but then again, her mother has become somewhat more lenient with her wanting to join others in outings, not that she wanted to join others in outings much, she only recently started to get more involved in outings because she wanted Marinette to get to know Aurore and Mireille more. "Or will you be spending the weekend with Chloé again?", she can't help but bring the blonde up.

Marinette sighs softly, she brought a hand up to the back of her neck, "Uh well…", she turns to Kagami and smiles sheepishly.

And that's all Kagami needs to confirm where Marinette will be this weekend.

Kagami sighs and rolls her eyes slightly, she should have figured as much, she thinks to herself. She noticed fairly quickly into spending more time with Marinette, that Marinette was becoming very attached to the snobby heiress, she had a few issues with it of course, but Plagg and Tikki told her that it was fine, that Chloè was actually interested in helping Marinette cope. She was skeptical of course, even with the kwamis vouching for Chloé, she just felt that the blonde might have hidden intentions, motives. "Again.", she groans. She can't help but dislike the idea of Marinette spending so much time with Chloé, she can't help but worry about the miraculous wielder being and becoming so vulnerable around the heiress. It wasn't sitting right with her.

Marinette smiles and shrugs, "Lighten up 'Gami, Chloé's actually been very supportive and helpful. She's kind and welcoming to my late night intrusions.", she chuckles lightly as she turns to face forwards. Marinette knew Kagami had qualms about her and Chloé's growing friendship, and she didn't exactly hold it against Kagami, after all, Chloé wasn't exactly the greatest person to her or anyone else before Lila popped up.

Kagami shrugged a little uninterestedly, she crossed her arms over her chest and faced forwards, "Still, there's something off about her, and if she hurts you-", the girl returns her gaze to the ravenette just as the teen turns to look at her, their gazes meet, "-I'll be there to hurt her.", she says with a hard cold expression.

Marinette gulps, "Uh-heh…", she forces an awkward smile. She knows that Kagami would definitely be there. She's tried hard to coax the girl into going out with her and Chloé, but to no avail, Kagami was stubborn and refused to change her opinion on the Bourgeois. "Oh, 'Gami-"

And just as Marinette was going to speak further, her words were cut off by sudden screaming and panic along with the sound of her and Kagami's phones giving up an akuma alert chime.

"KIM NO!", Came a sudden scream.

Then many screams of terror followed.

Marinette and Kagami both turned their heads to each, their expressions changed to one of horror before they turned their gazes to look across the courtyard, they saw students suddenly pouring out from Marinette's old homeroom, as well as other classrooms, teachers and students all scattered quickly.

Marinette's expression hardens as she runs to the metal rail, her hands gripped the cool metal tightly, she removes her hand with the ring from the rail and places it over her chest, her hand immediately making contact with the lump that moved under her jacket's material, she knew it had to be Plagg. "Akuma attack? Again?", she says in surprise, Hawk Moth hardly ever throws back to back akumas her way.

Kagami gets beside Marinette, "It seems so.", she narrows her eyes as she sees Lila, and Adrien along with Chloé running towards the stairs, she sees Alya, Nino, along with a handful of others all running towards the other set of stairs, they scattered quickly.

Marinette narrows her eyes as she sees all her old friends running, she eyes them all up, thinking about who it was that may have been Akumatized.

"Kid, let's go.", Plagg suddenly speaks up.

"Hurry, Marinette.", Tikki also speaks.

"Right.", Marinette says as she turns to Kagami, she makes to take her ring off, wanting to pass it to Kagami, but just as she does, a long chain suddenly wraps around Kagami's neck and torso, both girls are startled.

Kagami clicks her tongue, "Shit!", she curses before she's suddenly yanked away from Marinette.

"KAGAMI!", Marinette yells out, her hand reaching out, her body leaning over the rail a bit. She internally curses a she pulls back, she turns away and runs towards the closest set of stairs. She turns to see a blindfolded akumatized boy with chains, holding Kagami up, he faced her as if he was scrutinizing her.

"Hm, You're just and honest, worthy of trust, I Prince Verus, deem you vindicated.", he says with a deep voice.

Kagami recoils a bit, turning away from the boy, feeling uncomfortable due to being suspended in the air by the tightly wrapped chain.

Marinette narrows her eyes one last time before she decides to run past the stairs and makes it to a bathroom so she could transform, she kicks the door in and slips in, she huffs and pants, she makes to look under each stall to ensure no one was hiding in a stall, she sighs in relief as she doesn't see any shoes.

"What now, Marinette?", Tikki pops up from the jacket.

Marinette growls as she runs to lock the bathroom door. She turns to Tikki, "I'm feeling a little spent from fighting the other akuma, I was kinda hoping for backup this time.", she says as she raises a hand to push her bangs back, her eyebrows furrowed.

Tikki frowns lightly, feeling concern raising, she was hoping that Kagami would help them, but unfortunately she got caught first.

Plagg leaves the security of the jacket, "What about Blondie?", he asks without hesitation. "She's good too, right?"

Marinette sighs and crosses her arms over her chest, "Yeah, except she thinks I'm the permanent Noir.", she reminds the kwami of destruction. Marinette knew how adamant Chloé was about not taking Marinette's ring, even if Ladybug was to strip her of it and 'pass' it to her.

Tikki released a soft grunt of frustration. "Right, right. She'll question why the ring is being given to her."

Plagg rolled his eyes, "Urgh, can't we just tell her the truth? Kagami knows, and it's made things easier.", he groans. Plagg knew Tikki had every right to be wary of Chloé, but the blonde was proving to be a very different person, she was proving to be worthy of knowing the truth. "She's earned it.", he says.

Tikki crosses her arms into an 'X', "No, Plagg, Kagami knowing Marinette's other identity is more than enough, anyone else knowing is too risky, I took a leap of faith when I exposed Marinette to Kagami.", the Kwami argues with Plagg's point. She trusted Chloé, but she had her reservations. The less people that knew about Marinette being Ladybug, the better. She didn't want to risk putting Marinette in anymore danger.

Plagg frowns heavily, he thought Tikki was being unfair, the blonde was being helpful and caring towards Marinette. "But-", he was going to counter, argue, but their master intervened.

"Enough you two, I think I have an idea.", Marinette cuts in as she suddenly turns her ring around on her finger, putting it on the right way, "Plagg, Claws out.", she says as she raises her hand above herself. In seconds and in a flash of light, Noir stands in her place, she sighs and meets Tikki's gaze, "The earrings…", She says, "Can I give them to her?", she asks as she begins to take the earrings off.

Tikki looks hesitant, she knows that Marinette is referring to Chloé, she thinks for a moment. It was one thing for Marinette to be passing the Ring around, but the earrings were a completely different story, the last thing Tikki wanted was a severed bond with Marinette. "Marinette, you are not the Black Cat.", Tikki reminds the teen as her eyes search her masters gaze.

Marinette nods, "I know, but to her I am.", she explains. Trying to justify giving the earrings to Chloé.

Tikki frowns lightly, "Marinette, the balance must not be tipped too far. She is nothing like you, you and her are two different people with very different ideals and perspectives.", Tikki draws closer to her master, "You are my master, You and me are in sync, having someone else suddenly put the earrings on could throw us off, our bond could be severed as a result.", Tikki explains with a firm expression. She knew that Miraculous shuffling was always a complicated matter, shuffling the miraculous about means there's no permanent bond between Kwami and Master, after all, there's no time for it to be created. However, once a Kwami and Master have spent enough time to create a bond, suddenly shuffling the bonded miraculous about can potentially sever the bond, creating potential problems in the long run if the master and kwami attempt to mend the bond. "You could lose abilities, Marinette.", The Kwami warns.

Marinette chews on her bottom lip, "She makes for a good Black Cat though.", The teen says softly.

"Exactly, she has destructive tendencies, Marinette. You don't, you mix well with creation, you are order where she is disorder.", the kwami can't help but start stressing. She is clearly not on board with allowing someone else to wield her. Especially Chloé, Tikki knew the girl had more depth, but to allow Chloé the privilege of using the Ladybug Earrings would just be pushing too far. It would be a different story if Marinette was trying to let Kagami wield the power of creation.

"But wait, think about it, Tikki. Me and her are opposites, yeah.", the teen acknowledges that Chloé is certainly more suited for Plagg, "But didn't you say that was a good thing? Like how me and 'Gami are also opposites, she's more organized than me, more focused and more confident. In a balance between me and her I would be destruction.", Marinette draws closer to her kwami, "In that balance, Me and her would be able to swap miraculouses without much repercussions, because we are 'balanced'.", she brought up the topic of Kagami. Marinette knew that in a balance where Kagami was creation, she would certainly be the destruction.

"What are you saying, Marinette?", Tikki narrows her eyes a bit. She searches her master gaze, she can see that Marinette was about to grasp at a loophole in the whole 'balance' thing that Tikki was trying to keep in order.

"I'm saying that if me and my counter could swap miraculouses, than why can't me and her do it?", she now referred to Chloé. "She's well...my counter in this balance.", the teen explained, wanting Tikki to see her point. She knew that in a balance, both counterparts could switch, without any real danger, she knew that in her and Chat Noir's balance, it was a possibility until he began to get out of line.

"Yes, Marinette, but you're forgetting one important thing."

The teen sighed deeply, "What?"

"In a perfect balance.", The kwami stresses. She knows Marinette is trying to bend the rules, but she wasn't having it. "In a perfect balance where you and me won't get thrown off, you have a permanent Black Cat. A Black Cat that has formed a bond with Plagg.", Tikki starts to drift away from her master, "A balance where you and Plagg don't share a bond…"

Marinette raises her eyebrows in surprise. "Me and Plagg…"

"Yes Marinette, you and Plagg. You're getting farther and farther away from me, you're stretching our bond to its breaking point. You aren't allowing us any time to mend.", Tikki turns away, sadness fills her expression. She knows how oblivious her master was to bonds and what not, she knew that despite how hard Marinette tried, she couldn't feel it. It made her wonder sometimes.

"Oh Tikki, why haven't you told me?", Marinette's voice dropped to a whisper, she stepped towards Tikki, she brought her hands up and gently took a hold of the kwami.

"I shouldn't have to, Marinette. You should know.", Tikki looks away from the teen, she can't help but feel saddened at how things were turning out, the lingering effects of Adrien remained, staining the balance with destruction. She thought that with Adrien gone, surely the balance would mend, but it wasn't turning out that way, Marinette was now continuing to flood destruction into the balance that was becoming fragile, a balance where creation was starting to lose its place.

"Claws in.", Marinette says softly. In a flash, she stood before her kwami in her civilian form. "I'll fix us.", she says softly as she brings the kwami up to her face, she gently presses her lips over Tikki's head, "I'm sorry, Tikki."

Plagg sighs and floats idly, he wears a sad expression, "Gonna go with spots?", he asks.

Marinette smiles and nods as she pulls away from Tikki, "Yeah.", she meets Tikki's soft watery gaze. "Tikki, spots on!"

* * *

"Oh fuck me.", Chloé curses out loud as she finds herself hiding out in a supply closet with Adrien and Lila. She crosses her arms over her chest. She sits on the floor next to Adrien, her back against the door.

Lila sneers at both blondes.

"Great, just great.", Adrien murmured under his breath. He sits on the floor with a heavy frown over his lips.

"All this cause you two couldn't shut the fuck up.", Lila suddenly speaks, she growls at the two.

Chloé sneers, her upper lip curls upward, her pearly white teeth flashing at the brunette like a lioness that was being cornered, "How about you shut the fuck up? I'm so close to fucking stomping your dumb ass.", the heiress hissed through her teeth.

Adrien rolled his eyes. Great, he thinks, he's stuck in a closet with two girls that were practically ready to just fucking kill each other. "Enough, both of you, shut up.", he nearly snarls, the last thing he wants is to get dragged down with Lila. After all, Kim was after her, not him and Chloé, he had half the mind to just grab Chloé and leave the safety of the closet, stranding the arrogant brunette by herself.

The trio were clearly not great at being stuck together in tight quarters.

"I ought to fucking kick your ass out of this closet and let Kim do whatever the fuck it is he wants to do to you.", Chloé threatens as she places her balled up fists onto her lap, she glares at the brunette.

Olive green eyes widen for a moment before they narrowed, "Fucking try it, I'll tell everyone-"

"Go the fuck ahead-", Chloé grit her teeth.

Adrien brought both his hands to face, "Shut up- sh-", the boy started to hush the girls that were starting to grow louder with their argument. But before he could finish telling them to shut the hell up, the door to the closet opened, causing Chloé to nearly fall onto her back.

Lila and Adrien both released surprised gasps and yelps, both practically backed away from the opening and squished together, huddling into the tight corner of the closet in fear.

"I thought I heard voices in here.", came none other than Ladybug's voice, she was currently bent down, her hands were over Chloé shoulders, keeping the heiress from falling completely onto her back, "You three seriously need to work on being quiet when hiding from an Akuma."

"Ladybug?", Chloé spoke first, her expression instantly brightened up, "Oh thank god.", she breathes out in relief.

Ladybug smiles as she meets Chloé's gaze, it's a warm smile of acknowledgment.

While Chloé is certainly happy that Ladybug is here, Adrien and Lila both feel the opposite of relief. There's a distaste for Ladybug that they both unknowingly share. Their expressions are forlorn, distant and cold.

"Ladybug.", Adrien spoke, he shifted away from Lila and moved to sit on his knees.

Ladybug hummed and looked at Adrien, their eyes meet. For a moment, Ladybug feels chills run down her spine, she feels unsettled by Adrien's gaze. It's somehow familiar. She unconsciously grips Chloé's shoulders. "Adrien...hello.", she greets slowly, awkwardly.

Adrien huffs softly, his eyebrows furrow, "So, what now?", he asks suddenly, he keeps the hero's gaze, his eyes searching hers. Here she was, Ladybug, right in front of him, He can't help but think bitterly.

"Yeah, what now?", Lila suddenly chimes in, "Stop being useless.", she says as she pushes Adrien forwards, causing the boy to fall onto his hands and knees, she sits onto her knees now, glaring at the hero.

Chloé growls and sits up straight, "Watch your mouth, Rossi.", she frowns heavily.

Ladybug frowns and looks away, "You three need to get away from here. Now the akuma, do either of you know who it is and where the akumatized object is?", she speaks with authority now.

"Yeah, it's that loser, Kim.", Lila practically spat out.

Chloé and Adrien both growl.

"You caused him to be akumatized, you bitch-", Chloé was going to start cursing again, but just as she raised her voice, they all heard the unmistakable sound of chains hitting the floor.

Before either could say anything more, Ladybug suddenly bends against Chloé's back, she slips an arm under Chloé's legs and slips her other arm around the girl's torso, she scoops the teen up and she doubles back, retreating, jumping away from the closet with Chloé secured in her arms. She just barely avoids the chain that gets thrown her way. She jumps onto a metal rail and she jumps down onto the ground level, she huffs as she then breaks into a full run, she feels Chloé's arms wrap around her neck tightly. "Hang on!", Ladybug says as she ran to the double doors that was the entrance and exit of the school, she jumps up to deliver a hard kick to the door, kicking the doors open, she makes it outside the school, but she keeps running until she gets a few blocks from the school. "Sorry.", she says as she starts to set the blonde down. They currently stood in an alleyway, hidden from sight, for now.

"Whew, that was a close one, spots.", Plagg suddenly appears, popping up, descending from the sky, a familiar black ring in his grasp.

Chloé sighs softly, she breaks her gaze from Ladybug's own and looks up to see the little god flying down towards them, "Plagg?", she says the Kwami's name with a look of confusion.

"Hey, blondie.", he greets as he lands on Ladybug's shoulder casually. He hugged the ring to his chest.

Ladybug rolls her eyes, "Plagg.", she speaks sternly. Wanting the kwami to get on with what they planned out.

"Right, right.", he huffs, he floats off the shoulder and gets in front of Chloé with the ring, "Alright, so here's the thing, Your friend, my master, got caught up in the akuma attack...she uh...well, couldn't turn into Noir without risking her identity, so uh, I left to find Spots here or you. Take the ring?", the kwami speaks a little rushed and jumbled, he just wants to clean this mess up and be done with it so he, Marinette and Tikki could finish their little bathroom discussion. He honestly wants the heiress to be his new holder, not that Kagami was bad, she was just...too strict with him. She didn't take too lightly to his laid back side. She accused him of being a 'slob'.

Chloé raises her eyebrows in surprise, she stares at the kwami and then shoots a look to her idol. "Marinette's not really stealthy huh?", she can't help but comment.

Ladybug smiles a little sheepishly. "She's good at what she does, just...a little clumsy.", the teen feels her cheeks burn slightly in embarrassment.

"You should train your kitten a little better, Ladybug.", Chloé reaches out a hand and gently takes a hold of Plagg in a way that has the kwami sit on the inside of her palm, she reaches her other hand out and as Plagg holds the ring out for her, she merely pushes her finger through the ring, allowing it to slip onto her finger, instantly the ring goes into camouflage mode and the ring settles onto a gold color. "Hm…", she hums softly, she notices the change in the ring, "Wait, why's the ring gold? Isn't it supposed to be silver?", Chloé questions as she brought her hand up to her face to observe the ring closer. The first two times she used the ring, the ring was silver.

Plagg's mouth forms a small 'O'. He turns to Marinette, giving her an expectant look.

Marinette's mouth also forms an 'O'. That's different she thinks to herself, she'll have to ask Tikki about this new development later. "Doesn't matter, let's handle this akuma quickly and get things back to normal.", Marinette says as she composes herself.

Chloé breaks her gaze off the magical ring and nods, "Right.", she says in sudden determination. "Plagg, Claws Out!"

* * *

Alya sighs deeply, she's currently huddled in the supply closet by the gym with Nino, Alix, Juleka and Rose. It was hella awkward and hella tight, the brunette couldn't help but think.

"Fucking hell, What the fuck just happened?", Alix cursed as she hugged her knees to her chest, she sat at the back of the tight closet, she was squished into the corner.

Nino groaned, "It's too small in here.", the boy can't help but complain.

Juleka rolled her eyes, not wanting to speak to either of the trio that were currently all squished in the tight space with her and Rose. She blamed them, she really did. This whole Lila thing got way too out of hand. She felt guilty about Marinette being forced out of their class, she knew the girl left because of the bullying. She and Rose had discussed the entire thing, they both looked into everything, deciding that it wouldn't hurt to get some facts checked after Marinette had transferred out of their class, and well...Marinette was certainly right about Lila. It was like a slap to the face, both her and Rose truly felt it. They felt sick, she felt sick. They doubted their greatest friend. They abandoned her.

"I can't fucking believe that Marinette is fucking dating Chloé.", Alya's voice catches everyone's attention. There's disappointment in her voice, her tone. The brunette wears an angry expression. "I mean, what the fuck?", she curses. She clicks her tongue and grits her teeth. "After all the shit…", she trails off and starts mumbling under her breath, cursing every now and then.

Rose presses her lips tightly together, forcing herself to shut up, not wanting to argue with the brunette.

Alix scoffs, "Tell me about it, I mean, fuck. Is Marinette so thirsty that she'd go as low as fucking Bourgeois?"

Nino tensed from between Alix and Alya, he felt out of place, uncomfortable. He didn't want to hear any of this. "Chill out guys, please.", he says a little shakily.

Juleka frowns, trying to keep her sense out of the conversation.

"I mean, since when is she even into girls? Like, I mean-", Alix was going to continue talking, but Juleka had heard enough.

"You know what, why don't you shut the hell up.", Juleka growls suddenly, she snaps. "Who the fuck cares if Marinette and Chloé together? Let them be, let Marinette be for fucks sake, all of this is happening because all of you are too stupid to see what's really going on!", she raises her voice as each word spills from her mouth. "Marinette isn't in the wrong here!"

Rose grimaces, she cringes, she reaches out and grabs one of Juleka's arms, she grips it tightly trying to urge the girl to calm down. "Juleka, stop.", she says.

Alya turns to Juleka, "Why is everyone suddenly taking her side-", she tries to cut in, but Juleka cuts her off.

"Because we feel like shit about not helping her when she needed us the most!", Juleka's eyes watered up, she yelled out the last part, her voice cracked slightly, her heart raced in her chest. "Marinette was right…about everything." She balls her fists up, "I mean c'mon, since when does Chloé side with Marinette? And-and Adrien...since when does he throw chairs across the room and also accuse someone of lying? And Kim...you're all so blind…", tears suddenly roll down her cheeks, she brings her hands to her face, "She needed us and we weren't there...I was too scared…", she curls up, bringing her knees up to her chest. "He must have been scared too…", she referred to Kim.

Rose feels tears stinging her eyes, she feels her chest tighten, the gravity of the whole thing had hit them hard, the reality and realization of who and what Lila truly was...was crippling. Juleka had never broken down like this, she knew the girl was holding everything in, the guilt and anger of failing Marinette. She too felt it, she too felt grief at what they had done, they too played a part in Marinette's down fall, they did nothing to help.

Nino frowns sadly, he feels his chest ache. "Marinette...I… grew up with her… and she never did anything Lila's accused her of-"

Alya gasps and turns to Nino in shock, "Nino?!"

"You're fucking kidding me.", Alix hisses as she too turns to Nino. "Dude, Marinette's been nothing but a bitch to Lila-"

"Maybe, but to that extreme?", Nino turns to Alix, "Sure, maybe she got a little petty and jealous, but…", he trails off and turns to face ahead, he sees Rose staring at him with a watery gaze, he feels guilt starting to bubble up. His gaze falls to his knees.

Alya narrows her eyes. "Nino, what are you saying?", she asks a little breathlessly.

"Why are you all still going after her? What was the point of tripping her...hurting her?", he starts. "After the whole locker room thing...she stopped talking to us, she stood away from Lila, she didn't even talk to Adrien...she just...sat in the back...alone, minding her own business.", his lip twitched, he swallowed thickly, "But you guys still...came after her…"

The atmosphere in the tight space grew heavy suddenly.

Alix had no words, and neither did Alya.

Juleka trembled slightly, "Bunch of asshole, all of you. I mean, did anyone even fact check? Cause I fucking did, and I couldn't sleep for a whole week.", she piped up, sniffling, "Lila fucked all of us. She had it in for Marinette from the start."

Alya felt something in her stomach drop, she didn't want to hear this, no, she doesn't want any part in this-

"I only did what Lila said Marinette had been doing to her.", Alix suddenly pipes up.

All eyes go to Alix, they all see Alix's cocky demeanor suddenly change, a whole new expression settles itself over her face.

Nino narrows his eyes. "What do you mean?", he asks.

Juleka and Rose listen closely.

"Well, when Lila first started a few months ago, she told me in confidence that someone was bullying her, I felt bad for her and well, a good few days went by, and she spilled, she cried and everything...she told me Marinette was tripping her and pushing her around when no one was watching.", Alix explains, she swallowed thickly.

Alya nods her head, it sounds familiar. "She told me that too, I mean...she fell right in front of me and I snapped, I…", she thinks back to the beginning. She remembers the locker room incident, it was basically the catalyst to everything, it marked the day that the class decided to label Marinette the black sheep. She remembers walking beside Nino, she remembers hearing Marinette and Lila arguing by a row of lockers towards the back, she remembers how she walked towards the sound of the girls voices, ready to round the corner of the lockers, only to suddenly see Lila on the floor by her feet. She remembers finally snapping and physically taking Marinette down.

Nino and everyone is suddenly silent.

Alya is trying to remember more, but she can't. It like there's something missing. She can't remember seeing Marinette push Lila down, and suddenly one thing leads to another, she can't remember seeing Marinette doing anything that Lila said Marinette had been doing. Alya can't help but suddenly think back on that day, the horror that was written all over Marinette's face when she talked down to her, yelled at her, insulted her.

* * *

_"Lila!", Marinette yells in what sounds like surprise._

_Alya rounds the row of lockers only to see Lila on the floor, holding her wrist. She sees red._

_"What the fuck, Marinette!", Alya yells furiously, getting the attention of everyone else that was entering the locker room._

_Marinette steps back, her hands up in the air, "Alya it isn't what-Uhmph!?", Marinette's words are cut off by Alya suddenly tackling her, shoving her to the ground hard enough to wind her._

_Marinette falls to the floor, sliding a foot back against the floor, "Alya!", she shrieks. Her voice cracks, eyes tear up._

_"Césaire!", Chloé's voice yells out suddenly. She and Sabrina along with Adrien show up._

_"Marinette!", Adrien says as he gets passed Alya and gets beside Marinette. He kneels down, his arms wrap around the girl. "What the heck, Alya?", he says firmly, he looks angry._

_Alya growls, "Why do you have to be such a bitch, Marinette?!", Alya ignores everyone else, her eyes were focused solely on Marinette._

_"Alya I-", Marinette tried to speak, but Alya wasn't having it._

_"Enough! You're through! I was trying to put up with you, I thought maybe you would open your eyes and see the wrong you're doing, but enough is enough, you're even worse than Chloé!", the brunette yelled. "You're just a jealous bitch."_

_Adrien gasps, his expression falls, his mouth drops open in shock._

_Nino and everyone else merely looks on, some were amused, others were entertained._

_"Tsk, she's just mad cause Lila's cuter than her.", Kim throws a comment in._

_The guys except for Nino and Adrien laugh._

_Marinette flinches._

_Adrien presses his lips into a tight line._

_"Lila's the entire package.", Alya sneers, arms crossing over her chest, she glares at Marinette. "Marinette's got nothing on her."_

_Everyone laughs._

_Adrien, Chloé and Nino feel sick to their stomachs._

_Marinette's eyes tear up, Alya can't help but feel her chest tighten, she holds it in._

* * *

Alya's eyebrows furrow.

"Oh fuck…", Alix suddenly says breathily. She sounds out of breath, shame starting to wash over her. She only acted out of what she thought was 'justice', she...believed Lila and felt bad for her. She…"Oh fuck.", she curses more clearly.

Nino feels sick suddenly.

Alya is stuck in thought, processing, thinking deeply. She's pushing it down, pushing the regret, the guilt, the anger...everything that was suddenly starting to come up. It was suddenly overwhelming. All the memories of the past few months starting to hit her all at once, all the times she or everyone else pushed Marinette around, all the times they insulted her. It's all playing in her head like a movie.

Rose can see the guilt starting to show on everyone's face. She has to admit. It's bittersweet. Because now they feel what she and Juleka have felt, except, they feel it worse.

"How does it feel?", Juleka can't help but rub salt on the fresh wound. She's bitter about it, she has been ever since realizing the truth.

Alix glares at Juleka, "You know what-", she starts, but just as she does, the door is suddenly ripped off the hinges.

The group all scream in surprise and in fear.

"Where is Lila Rossi?!", Comes the deep voice.

"We don't know, dude!", Nino answers as he backs up into the closet as much as he can, the girls also doing the same, they all cower in fear.

The blindfolded akumatized villain hums, he tilts his head to the side and shrugs before a wicked smile curls his lips, "My chains may strangle liars, but that doesn't mean they can't strangle those who aid a Liar", he says as if coming to a conclusion right there and then. "Everyone who hides a truth is guilty.", he then suddenly raises a hand and whips a chain towards the cowering teens, the chain quickly wraps around Alya's neck first.

"Oh fuck.", Alya struggles to speak as the chain tightens around her neck. She quickly yanked from the closet and dragged towards the boy, her body sliding on the floor.

"Alya!", Nino yells.

The teens all start screaming.

Alya starts to find it harder and harder to breath as she is being dragged towards the Akumatized villain's feet. She can't help but feel she deserves this.

"Liar, Liar, Liar.", he says. "You're a traitor, you protected someone who lives and breathes lies.". He raises his hand and the chain starts to come up, pulling Alya up. "She'll get her turn, just like everyone else-Ngh!", he's interrupted by Ladybug suddenly delivering a kick to the back of his head, he released Alya and was suddenly on the other side of the building thanks to a certain metal extending staff that was extended into him, sending him flying away into a wall.

Alya gasps as she feels chains loosen from her neck, she quickly slips out of the chains and falls onto her back, she kicks back until she is against the wall beside the closet, panting, trying to catch her breath.

"You look a little, out of breath there, you okay?", Came a snarky voice. There's a bite to the tone.

Nino and the teens all nearly fall out of the closet, all eager to get away from the fight, but they all stop when they see Ladybug and Noir.

Alya sneers weakly, she turns to see Ladybug and Noir both standing side by side. Looking at her. She can't help but glare at the blonde. 'God', she thinks, how she hates this Noir. Sure the other Noir was an asshole to her and everyone else, but this one was just too sarcastic to be around. It was almost as if the blonde haired Noir was being stupid on purpose.

"Ladybug...and…", Nino begins but trails off. His eyes taking in the sight of the blonde haired Noir, the one he knows Alya hates with a passion.

"Noir, just Noir.", Chloé says as she leans against her baton with a smirk. "Anyways, you lot should run while you still can. I'm not kitten around.", she winks playfully.

Noir's playfulness rubs everyone (except Ladybug) the wrong way.

Alya and everyone else find themselves getting a little...pissed.

"Are you kidding me? Is this a joke to you?", Alya hisses, she glares at the blonde haired Black Cat miraculous wielder. She always thought she disliked the other Noir, but it turns out she'd rather a rude Noir than an obnoxious one.

Ladybug nearly face palms, Chloé was starting to pick up on Plagg's puns, that was a mess she knew there was no picking up. She always assumed Chat Noir just had the jokes and came up with them on his own, but it turns out that Plagg was the source of the majority of Chat Noir's stupidity. At Its best it was endearing, at its worst, it was annoying. She sighed softly, her mind drifted to Chat Noir for a moment. It was moments like these that she couldn't help but remember the good times she had with the boy.

"No, I'm being fur-real, I have a feline this guy's gonna be a fur-midable foe.", Noir said as she wiggles about in place. Chloé knew damn well what she was doing, she knew how to push Alya's buttons. Hell, she acted the way she did solely to get on the brunette's nerves. The first time she had acted stupidly in proximity to the Ladyblog reporter, Ladybug had to physically stop Alya from throwing her phone at her. It didn't stop her from annoying her or their peers.

Chloé Noir acts out of spite, she always accidentally dropped Alya or her peers a little too soon before safety, she got a kick out of scaring them, while she knew it was messed up, she concluded that they deserved it and oddly enough, Ladybug never stopped her or scolded her, not even Marinette Noir. So, here she was, being the best jackass she could be.

While the blonde annoyed the brunette and the scared teens, Ladybug was trying fairly hard to keep her composure, she certainly was enjoying this, for two reasons, one, she knew Alya and the others were getting angrier by the second and two, guiltily, because it made her feel better. It was messed up she knew, but she knew Chloé had a limit. She knew the blonde was doing it for her civilian self.

Alya turned to Ladybug, "Where's the asshole? I prefer her over this one.", she was pissed, she was nearly strangled to death, and this...idiot was being a jackass.

Ladybug frowns slightly, "Well, that's a little harsh, Césaire.", she crosses her arms over her chest, "My kittens have saved you a few times, it'd be nice if you showed a little gratitude.", she comes to her Black Cat's defense.

Alya is taken aback by the hero's tone.

Noir smirks like cheshire cat. "Me-oow. That hurt, Ms. Césaire.", she stops leaning against her baton. She was going to throw another pun around but was sadly interrupted.

"Give me your miraculous!", a shout cuts through the tension and the groups conversation.

Noir and Ladybug both turn their attention to the akumatized villain.

"You all should get going, I have a feline things are about to get furry hairy.", Ladybug says as she cracks a small smile, she whips out her Yo-yo.

Noir smiles, she sees the look of disbelief on Alya's and Nino's faces, it's almost satisfying. "You ready, Bug?", Chloé gets into fighting stance, ready to attack.

"Ready as you are, Kitty."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please forgive any typos or mistakes I may have made.
> 
> Feel free to drop comments/critiques/questions.


	10. Virtues Of The (Un)yielding P.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just when Marinette finds herself in a better place, she finds herself pushed into another spiral.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, happy new years?
> 
> XD
> 
> New year, more angst?
> 
> This chapter may just go from zero to one hundred. Brace for whiplash?

It takes them 20 minutes to finally take care of the akuma. Both Noir and Ladybug are eager to return to school. But it's not as simple and quick as Ladybug thought it would be.

"Stop brooding.", Chloé Noir says, walking over to the teenage boy who sat on the cement, arms hugging his knees to his chest. Kim, the boy who had been akumatized merely keeps his gaze down. He says nothing.

Ladybug begins to draw closer, staying behind her Black Cat. She looks on, she ignores the first 'beep' of her earring. She wants to understand what happened to Kim. How he had fallen victim to his emotions. What had set him off.

Noir gets to the teen and kneels down, "Don't beat yourself up.", she says. Sympathy clear in her tone, her expression was softer, gentler and genuine. It was clear that Chloé had no interest in playing coy or being a jack ass.

The boy sighs heavily, he finally looks up and meets Noir's gaze, "How could I not?", he breathes out. "I'm horrible. I...I left her...alone, I didn't do anything...I abandoned her when she needed someone the most.", his voice shakes slightly. "Everyone just...let her down.", his eyes once again look away. His expression was downcast.

Ladybug wears an expression of sympathy for a moment. But her expression quickly changes when she feels her chest ache. Why should she sympathize with him? He didn't deserve any, not from her. She sighs softly, "Noir. Let's go.", she say, her voice is firm, her expression hardens. She begins to turn away, wanting to leave.

But then she hears it.

"Marinette was the nicest person I ever knew. There was just no way she was the person Lila made her out to be. I should have known better.", Kim says.

Ladybug stop walking for a moment, she stands still, processing what she just heard.

Noir sighs and stands up straight. A small frown on her lips. "Don't think too much on it. People like Rossi get caught, eventually.", she says. Her ring begins to 'beep' a little more, she brings her hand up to her line of sight and sees how much time she has left before she loses her transformation. She's got a minute.

"Yeah.", he says bitterly, eyebrows furrowed and eyes narrowed. "But by the time everyone takes their heads out of their asses, everything's going to be even more fucked up.", the teen's nose flares slightly.

Noir can see that Kim's anger was still very much present. She feels that this may just be the beginning of something else. Something that Lila would end up being the center of.

Ladybug on the other hand, feels something familiar starting to bubble up in her chest. She feels her eyes starting to tear up, her vision begins to grow blurry. Her earrings start to 'beep' more frequently. She knows they must go. "Noir, let's go.", she says again, her voice falls quieter, her lips pulling into a frown.

Noir turns to look over her shoulder, she was going to say something, but just as she turns, she sees Ladybug wearing a forlorn expression, she sees tears shining, unshed, glistening in her eyes. She gives in. She turns back to Kim, wanting to leave him one last piece of advice. "Hold it together.", she says and she turns completely around and begins to jog over to Ladybug.

Both heroes disappear.

But not before a few onlookers snapped a few pictures of them.

* * *

There's a silence between them. Both had lost their transformations together once they landed in an alleyway. Chloé practically trips and falls to the floor beside the very dumpster Ladybug rounds and loses her transformation behind. It's certainly a little embarrassing.

"Smooth.", Plagg says, teasing as he sits idle by the corner of the dumpster.

Chloé blushes and sends Plagg a warning glare. She sighs and settles into a sitting position, she sits with her back against the cool metal of the dumpster. "Are you...okay?", she asks after a few seconds of thinking over her words.

"Yeah.", Ladybug says, her voice is much more quieter than Chloé swears she's ever heard.

And Chloé feels her heart ache just a little bit. "Has...Marinette told you...about what's happened?", she asks. She feels that the expression and tone Ladybug took after Kim spoke, was most likely due to how close Ladybug was to Marinette. Certainly Marinette had talked to Ladybug, right? For a moment, Ladybug says nothing. Chloé falls silent herself, waiting for Ladybug to speak first, if she was even going to.

And after a few moments, Ladybug does. "Yeah. I...know everything.", she says slowly.

Chloé sighs, picking up her gaze she turns to her right, her eyes go wide for a moment as she sees Ladybug's bare left hand over Plagg, gently patting him over the head and softly brushing her thumb over his head. It feels weird, Chloé can't help but acknowledge, being so close to a civilian Ladybug, so close to whoever Ladybug truly was under the mask. She collects herself. "Pretty fucked up huh…", her lips parted to say.

"Yeah.", Ladybug answers, quietly.

"Who cares about those idiots?", Plagg says, "As long as Marinette has Chloé, Me and Cheese, nothing can get us down.", the kwami gives the heiress a smug toothy smile.

Chloé feels her cheeks flush, she smiles sheepishly. She was going to speak again but her words died off once she caught a glimpse of another Kwami.

"Quiet, Plagg.", Another Kwami says, floating down towards where Plagg was, a cookie in it's grasp. The kwami settles over Ladybug's hand once it stills over Plagg. "Here, recharge.", the kwami offers to share the cookie.

"Awwww!", Plagg whines as he slips out from under the hand, he sees the cookie in Tikki's grasp, "No cheese!?", he asks quite disappointed.

The kwami nods, "No, you ate all of the cheese my master brought before hand.", The kwami frowns lightly.

And before Chloé knows it, the two Kwamis begin to bicker. Eventually splitting the cookie, but they continued to bicker. Chloé stills, observing the two kwamis. Plagg and…"Ladybug?", she says softly, practically gawking at the spotted kwami.

The kwami looks away from Plagg who was sticking his tongue out only to look up to meet the human's awestruck gaze, she smiles lightly and nods, floating upwards, "Greetings.", she greets the heiress politely. "My name is Tikki, I am the kwami of Creation, the Ladybug Kwami.", she says.

And Chloé is internally freaking out. "O-Oh...Cool...cool.", she says sheepishly.

Plagg smirks, "Chloé here is huge fan-", the kwami begins but does not get to finish because as soon as he begin his sentence Chloé began to reach for him and pokes him twice.

"Shut up, Plagg!", Chloé says, her face growing red.

Tikki merely giggles, she settles once again over her Master's hand. She was certainly enjoying the rapport that Plagg had developed with the human heiress. She smiled fondly as she watched Chloé's finger jab Plagg, her eyes falling onto the hand, she was falling into thought when she suddenly realizes what's before her once her eyes take notice of the golden ring. "Master!", Tikki squeaks and flies up to return to her master's side.

Chloé doesn't hear much, the only thing she hears after a moment is, 'Spots On.', and a flash of light follows after those words were said, and Ladybug suddenly stands up and leaves from her side of the dumpster. Cheeks flushing slightly. "Ladybug?", the blonde says questioningly.

"Uh, I gotta go. Um, Give the ring back to Marinette when you see her okay?", the ravenette says a little quick, "Uh also, good job today.", she quickly spins around and throws her yoyo into the air and she leaps up and disappears onto the roof of a building.

"Wow, She must be in a hurry.", Plagg says as he finally finished his share of the Cookie.

"Yeah…", Chloé merely breathes out. She turns to look at Plagg, "Come on, we should head back to school to Look for Marinette.", she finally gets up to her feet and dusts herself off.

Plagg nods his head enthusiastically, "Sounds like a plan."

* * *

Marinette sighs deeply as she enters the school through one of the bathroom's windows, she's quick to de-transform and as soon as she does, Tikki begins to throw questions at her.

"Marinette, her ring! Your ring! The ring!", Tikki began to speak quickly. "Did it just change? Did you see it change? Mar-"

Marinette rose her hands up and took the Kwami into them, "Tikki, sh, quiet down.", Marinette says softly as the kwami relaxes in her grasp. "It just changed, Plagg gave me a weird look when it happened.", she explained, certainly the fact that the ring changed for Chloé was significant.

"Oh this is good. Good.", Tikki says, but then a somewhat hesitant looks appears on her face, "Oh...but then...Kagami won't be…", she trails off. "I was hoping Kagami would bond with Plagg…", Tikki sighs.

Marinette hums, her eyes scanning over the Kwami's facial expression. "Bond? Is...Is Chloé bonded to him, to Plagg?", her eyes widened for a moment, her lips parting in awe. There was a chance that Chloé was to be her Black Cat after all. "Does that mean Chloé is...the one?"

"Yes and no.", Tikki says. "Chloé has formed a bond, but it's not completely set. You'll know when it is, trust me. Just like when you'll know when the bond isn't. The bond is, as the balance is. Chloé bonding with Plagg, will mean her bonding with you too and vice versa. You'll know the moment someone becomes apart of the balance.", the kwami explains. Tikki was a little excited, but a little disappointed that Kagami wasn't able to form a bond as quick as Chloé did. It wasn't that Tikki had anything against the heiress, she just preferred someone that wasn't at risk for being a loose cannon. Where Kagami was organized and critical, Chloé was all over the place. "Let's not jump to conclusions just yet.", Tikki sighs. "Let's give it a little more time, she suggests.

Marinette nods. "Okay."

* * *

Classes were all cancelled. Not such a surprise there. Usually after Akuma attacks, students were dismissed early. It sort of just became a school policy. So the majority of the students were out and about, gathering their things to get ready to go home for the day.

Marinette sighs softly as she walks through a small crowd of students, wanting to get to her locker so that she could get her school work. She feels an odd feeling suddenly wash over her, she felt watched. She tries to ignore the feeling, but it seems to only intensify. She gives in and turns her head and she sees a few students staring at her, her old peers. Among them, Alya and Alix, both were giving her odd looks. Then there was Rose Julika and Kim. The trio stared at her with shame. It made her feel uneasy. Something happened, she was aware of that much, what? She wasn't sure and didn't know, but she might get some answers from Chloé when she sees her later tonight. Marinette looks away after a few moment and continues to make her way to the locker room.

There's hardly anyone left and by the time she manages to get to her locker, the last few students had left. She was alone for a moment. Reaching out she grabs her lock and puts the combination in, she feels that weird unsettling feeling return, she feels it intensify and suddenly weigh heavy on her, she feels her stomach growing knotty. She manages to take her lock off before she hears it.

"Marinette.", a familiar voice says her name from behind her.

Marinette tenses heavily, she feels her heart speed up. She swallows thickly. She hesitates for a moment, she thinks as quickly as she could, wondering why someone was approaching her here, while she was alone. She takes a deep breath in and slowly and cautiously begins to turn around. Alya stands before her, her expression was unreadable. It made Marinette uncomfortable. Sapphire eyes flicker from left to right, wanting to see if there was anyone else around.

"Marinette.", Alya says her name again.

And Marinette brings her gaze back to Alya's own, she sees another expression settling over the brunette's face, she sees something akin to forlorn and somber emotions flooding her face. "What do you want.", Marinette asks a little wary, she keeps her guard up. Eyes narrowing slightly.

"I...can we...talk?", Alya says, voice growing shaky by the moment.

Marinette raises an eyebrow. She begins to think back to what Kim had said. Could it have happened? Has Lila been caught in a lie, did they figure it out? Marinette falls silent for a moment, falling into thought. She processed this, the fact that Alya was here, standing in front of her without spewing insults or threatening to hit her. Unless...Surely, there was a catch. Maybe it was a trap. Maybe Alya was merely pretending to be civil and even if in fact Lila was caught and Alya was here to apologize...she couldn't just accept it, she couldn't accept anyone's apology, it's not that simple anymore.

Marinette's lips pulls into a frown, "I can't.", she says, firmly, forcing herself to keep it together.

Alya's expression fall further, she seems surprised that Marinette denied her the time to talk. "Marinette please-"

"Just-", Marinette cuts the brunette off, "-leave me alone.", her voice trails off and falters, she clears her throat and turns around, wanting to get her things so she could just get out of her and go home.

But once again, things just aren't that simple.

As soon as she opens the doors, a little more of her world is lost. She opens the metal locker door only for everything to tumble out of it. It was a mess of ripped paper, covered in...Sapphire eyes quickly spot the origin of the liquid, a carton of chocolate milk laid on the floor beside her foot, beside her…

Marinette's eyes slowly begin to widen as the gravity of what just happened starts to process in her head. She feels a suffocating feeling start to smother her. Before she knows her, hot salty liquid is already running down her cheeks. Her chest tightens and she feels like she's about to throw up.

"Oh G-God.", Alya gasps from behind her hands.

She'd invested a lot of her time, a lot of her heart and happiness into that torn up book...what was her beloved sketchbook. It was something that was always just there, something she clung to, something she relied on, even when she fell into a creativity drought. It was always just there whenever she wanted to flip through the pages to reminisce on the nicer times when her creativity was overflowing. It was a reminder of the good times.

Marinette releases a shaky breath as she stares at the mess that were her things.

"Oh shit, Marinette-", Alya begins but doesn't get the chance to finish.

Marinette spins around and just bolts, running past her and out the door at a speed that not even Alya's ever seen her run. Marinette slips away quickly. All her frustrations, anger and overflowing negative emotions, she's just barely keeping them at bay.

"Marinette! Marinette!", Tikki yells, but the voice disappears when Marinette drops her bag on the steps of the school, she just keeps running, her legs kept pushing her forwards, she didn't even begin to ache yet. She grit her teeth as tears continued to escape her eyes, as they kept rolling down her cheeks. It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair, she mentally chants to herself. Why does she have to lose everything? Why does she have to keep losing things? She was doing so good, she was feeling better, everything looked like it might become bearable. But then this…

And with this loss, Marinette finds herself starting to think about everything else. Losing her friends, losing Chat Noir, having to change classes, having to find another Black Cat, having to continue to deny herself any sort of emotional release because of how dangerous it was for her to get a little angry or upset. Everything begins to weigh on her at once.

It wasn't fair.

Marinette runs, she runs and runs, she pushes herself once she starts to ache and burn. She runs until she can't remember how long she's been running. She runs until she can't recognize where she's at.

"IT'S NOT FAIR!", Marinette screams out as her legs finally give out somewhere, she ends up falling right onto the ground, she slides on the grass for a second before she throws her tantrum, she reaches to her earrings and takes them off, throwing them in a fit, launching then into a patch of grass. "FUCK!", she curses as she then reaches to the floor and just attacks it, she begins to rip the grass off the dirt ground, her nails and hands growing dirty from the dirt. She continued to grunt and growl out of sheer frustration. She couldn't take it anymore, why was she still being targeted? She left the class, she kept her distance, she did nothing wrong. Why was this still happening to her?

_"Why do bad things happen to good people?"_

Marinette stops her assault against the torn up ground suddenly, her hands and clothing were filthy. She sits up onto her knees, lifting her gaze to face forwards. She sees Tikki in the distance, she sees her kwami frantically moving her mouth, but she can't hear anything that the kwami is saying.

_"You've been fighting a losing fight against the true villain of your story. You've been outmaneuvered by her, everyone you've ever done good by has simply cast you aside, all of them, deceived so easily by someone they hardly knew. They cast you, a person of so many virtues, aside."_

The words echoed loudly in Marinette's head.

_"Princess Virtue. I will grant you the power to judge and punish those who lack the qualities and traits that make the ideal Virtuous person, Virtuous. For those who lack honesty and lie, they will never speak again, for those who lack bravery and are cowards, they will be turned to stone, never to move again. For everyone that has betrayed you, will feel your wrath."_

Marinette feels herself succumbing, yielding. She finds something in the darkness beginning to take over.

She finds comfort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to drop comments/critiques/questions.
> 
> Sorry about any typos, mistakes ect.


	11. Virtues Of The (Un)yielding P.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time isn't on their side.
> 
> Chloé and Tikki must figure out what to do and how to move forwards after Tikki reveals the true gravity of the situation to her.
> 
> The pressure falls onto Chloé and a certain Tsurugi to set things right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, here's an update!

Chloé sighed deeply, she managed to sneak back into the school. Having used the miraculous to enter the school undetected. She felt a little anxious, she knew she still had things to do before going home. She needed to find Marinette and not only give her back the ring, but also talk with her. God, Chloé began to dread on where their conversation may go.

"I'm hungry.", Plagg says, half whining.

Chloé scoffs and rolls her eyes, "Don't be a pig, Plagg. You just ate.", the heiress says, referring to the cookie Tikki had split with him. She opens her sweater, gesturing for him to slip in to hide.

Plagg groans and releases another childish whine. "That wasn't enough! I want cheese!", he says, he jumps up and down mid air, throwing a small fit.

"Urgh, if you stop acting up, I'll get you a nice wheel of that gross stinky cheese you're always having Marinette and Ladybug get for you.", Chloé says, wanting to shut the childish Kwami up.

And it works.

"Really!? You'd get a whole wheel? Just for me?", Plagg says happily accompanied by a toothy smile.

"Urgh, yes, now get in! We have to find Marinette.", Chloé says, urging the kwami to slip into the inside of her sweater.

"Okay!", Plagg quickly does as he's told.

Chloé merely rolls her eyes again, Plagg was certainly becoming more and more of a handful, at first she had thought he was this wise small little god of destruction, but he was in fact, a reckless small little god of destruction. The kwami was adorable, but very annoying. Chloé wondered how Marinette managed to deal with such an annoying chaotic force like Plagg. With Plagg finally in her sweater, Chloé makes to walk, but she pauses when she feels the place Plagg settle into, begin to...vibrate. "Are you…", the heiress pauses as she opens her sweater to see what Plagg was doing against her ribs.

"No…", he says as he looks up to meet her gaze, he blinks a few times.

The heiress raises an eyebrow, "Uh...I'm pretty sure you just-"

"Nothing happened…", Plagg insists, still looking at her.

Chloé sighs and just gives in, she knew what she felt, she was sure of it.

Plagg had just purred.

* * *

Kagami sighed deeply. Today was certainly eventful. She'd nearly been strangled, but thankfully she didn't match whatever poor qualities the Akuma's original target had. So, she didn't have to experience getting the life squeezed out of her. Although, she has to be more careful next time. Kagami can't help but think to herself, if she would have avoided getting caught, she would have been able to assist Marinette in capturing the akuma. She needed to be better. She had to do better.

The Tsurugi is stepping down some steps when suddenly, Aurore and Mireille both run up to her, stopping her in her tracks, both frantic and slightly shaken.

"Have you seen Marinette?", Aurore asks first, speaking before even making it in front of Kagami. The blonde's eyebrows were furrowed.

Instantly Kagami feels something in her stomach drop. "No, I haven't. Why?", she responds quickly. Her eyes scanning over the expressions both teens wore. She was trying to decipher what was going on. What made her friends want to search for Marinette so frantically.

"Those jerks totally messed her things up!", Mireille says, cutting in, she wore a sad expression, her eyes were slightly teary. "Someone broke into her locker and just…", she trailed off, taking her bottom lip between her teeth. She hugged her arms to her chest, "...her sketchbook, her books and her phone are totaled…"

Kagami grimaces, she feels her heart drop, she feels it break. She knew how much Marinette valued that sketchbook. She knew how much effort Marinette put into her designs. She feels anger beginning to gnaw at her.

"They fucked everything up...I found Césaire and Lahiffe in the locker room. They insisted they had nothing to do with it but I swear to God, they're so full of it.", the blonde says, anger clear in her tone, her eyebrows furrow even more and her eyes narrow. The blonde was furious, she had befriended the Dupain-Cheng, she had come to really like her company. What had happened to her was terrible, Aurore couldn't imagine the torment that Marinette was being put through, she couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose all her friends and be branded a liar.

It was certainly an unfair situation that Marinette had to put up with.

Kagami clenches her jaw for a moment, she grips her bag's strap tightly, knuckles whitened. "Are they still there?", she asks, coldly. Eyes narrowing, she's had enough of Alya's bull shit. It's time someone teaches her a lesson. Kagami would gladly be the one to teach it to her.

Mireille tenses, she feels a little unsettled by Kagami's sudden change in demeanor, "Uh...K-Kagami-"

"Yeah, they're still there.", Aurore answers, cutting Mireille off.

"Alright.", Kagami says and begins to walk again, this time, with a purpose. She steps passed the two teens and begins to make her way to the locker room. She was going to make sure no one ever messed with Marinette again.

* * *

"No, no, no, no…", Tikki whimpered softly, she flew high and as fast as she could, wanting to quickly track Plagg, Chloé, or Kagami down. She lost Marinette. Marinette had succumbed to Hawk Moth's influence. It broke her heart, she knew that Marinette had finally been pushed over the edge. Her beloved master, was continuously being dealt the shorter hand, she couldn't understand why. It wasn't fair. The kwami after a few moments, finally sees the school just up ahead. She was eager to get there, eager to resolve this mess. Tikki is almost there when she begins to hear it. Screaming, panic and terror. It's coming from behind her, below her. She gets the chills. She ignores the urge to turn back to see what her master has done and become, she does not wish to see what Hawk Moth has turned her master into.

"Chloé!", Tikki yells as she spots the blonde texting and walking towards the bakery. "Chloé!", she calls out once more, tears escaping her eyes and rolling down her cheeks.

The blonde looks up from her phone and begins to look around, no doubt trying to locate who was calling out to her.

"Chloé!", Tikki yells out one last time as she finally begins to descend near Chloé.

The heiress immediately turns and finally sees her. The blonde no doubt sees the urgency written all over her face by the way Chloé looks at her, quickly shoving the phone into her back pocket, she reaches out to her with both hands, gently taking her from the air. "Tikki?", She says. "What's wrong?", she asks, her tone filled with concern. The heiress looks around and jogs off to a more secluded area, not wanting someone to see her and Tikki.

The Plagg lump on Chloé merely moves up the sweater, his small head popping out from the Collar of the sweater, "Sugar Cube?", he begins, but he immediately leaves the warmth of the sweater when he sees Tikki's teary eyes. "What's wrong!", Plagg says suddenly and loudly once Chloé rounds a corner and slips into an alleyway.

"It's...Marinette...she's been akumatized.", Tikki begins to cry more. "I'm losing her...my master…", she whimpers out. Crying in the security of Chloé's hands. Hugging the earrings to her chest.

Chloé's eyes widened. "Marinette...was akumatized?", her gaze drops to the earrings in Tikki's grasp. "Wh-What happened to Ladybug? Did Marinette...take her down?", the blonde certainly had many questions. It hasn't even been an hour since the last Akuma attack.

Tikki looks up to Chloé, her eyes gaze deeply into Chloé's own. She grew silent. She began to internally debate whether or not Plagg was right. Whether or not Chloé should know who Marinette truly was. "Chloé…", she says softly. She takes a deep breath, preparing to tell Chloé the truth and the real danger of Marinette's akumatization.

"What?", Chloé whispers softly, her gaze not leaving the Kwami's own.

"Marinette needs to be purged of the Akuma.", Tikki says slowly, "She cannot be akumatized for too long or our bond will sever.", the kwami hopes that this is all she has to say for Chloé to figure out the true gravity of the situation.

And Chloé slowly takes it in.

"Your bond?", the blonde says slowly, eyes narrowing for a moment, a thoughtful expression flooding her face.

Plagg silently looks on, looking between the two.

Tikki sighs once more and helps the heiress put two and two together. "Ladybug...my master...is the akumatized."

The heiress feels all breath leave her for a moment.

And just like that, the situation becomes a lot more dire.

"M-Marinette...is…", Chloé's eyes widen with realization.

But before Chloé has a chance to completely come to terms with what Marinette's identity reveal, the sounds of panic begins to flood in from all directions.

"She's here!", Tikki says with fear. She keeps her gaze focused on Chloé's own. "Chloé, we must act now!"

Chloé snaps out of it, coming back to life. She turns to Plagg only to speak those magic words, "Plagg, Claws Out.", and just like that Chloé stands before Tikki as Noir.

Tikki nods her head, "We're also going to need more allies for this. But I'll handle that part, I need you to locate Tsurugi Kagami.", the kwami says.

"Urgh, that girl-", Chloé recoils and begins to whine, but immediately Tikki cuts her off.

"Kagami is the only other trusted ally Marinette has, Kagami knows her identity, she knows about me and Plagg.", Tikki says a little rushed. "Once you find Kagami, keep her somewhere safe while I get us some assistance. You and Kagami must work together, if you truly care about Marinette like you say you do, than you and Kagami will have to set aside your differences. For Marinette's sake.", the kwami stresses. "Please, Chloé."

The heiress nods without hesitation. "Okay. I promise, I won't let you down.", the blonde begins to step backwards when she sees some people beginning to run into the other end of the alley way. "Go, Tikki.", Chloé speaks once more before she swiftly turns around and makes use of her baton, she quickly extends the metal pole and launches herself away.

Tikki frowns sadly. "I'm counting on you.", she whispers softly.

* * *

"Uhgh!?"

"I warned you. I told you to leave Marinette alone.", Kagami growls.

"K-Kagami, let's just...relax for a bit, yeah?", Mireille puts two of her hands in front of her, wanting to calm the angry Tsurugi, urging her to think clearly.

Aurore merely stood by, arms crossed over her chest, she stood against a locker, her gaze only dropping from where Kagami had Alya pinned down, to the part of the floor where Nino laid on his back, groaning. A small smirk curling her lips. Kagami was quick to drop the boy onto his back, using his own momentum and movements against him. Alya on the other hand, was easy, child's play even, Kagami had no issue knocking Alya around.

"Please, Kagami, stop.", Mireille pleaded softly, as much as she hated what was being done to Marinette, she knew they had to stay above the situation, not stoop down to their level. "Kagami, please."

Kagami ignored Mireille, she kept Alya pinned onto her belly, keeping her pinned against the floor, she had quickly grabbed both of Alya's arms and kept them in place behind the brunette's back. She was going to make this painful. "Now, cut the shit, why won't you leave Marinette alone?", Kagami growled as she straddled the teens lower back, her hands kept their tight grip over Alya's wrists.

Alya grit her teeth, eyes narrowing and eyebrows furrowing. She was in a lot of pain. "I-I…I didn't...do this…", the brunette grunts out through clenched teeth.

"You're so full of shit. So fucking-", Kagami was getting more and furious by the second, she was prepared to curse the brunette out, but fairly quickly that changed.

"I came to apologize...to her...I...we know…", Alya manages to cut Kagami off.

And suddenly the atmosphere of the room shifts.

Kagami releases Alya's arms. "Know what?"

"About...Lila…", Alya sniffles softly.

Kagami sucks in a breath. Alya's words sound like a good thing, but Kagami knew that with this event having transpired, things would continue to be complicated. Marinette was far passed the line of forgiving her old classmates. Marinette wouldn't go back to them.

"I think it's a little too late for that revelation, Césaire.", Comes a voice. A breeze blows by the teens.

Everyone turns their attention to the open window, they see Noir sitting on the sill, a firm frown on her lips, her messy unruly curls getting slightly more disheveled by the wind.

"Noir.", Kagami says, eyes narrow towards the blonde.

All eyes were on the blonde haired hero.

For once, Noir didn't have a smug expression on.

"Marinette has been akumatized...it's bad.", Noir says suddenly, getting straight to the point. The blonde notices Kagami's expression fall quickly.

"Oh no.", Mireille says sadly. "She's been akumatized...oh god…", The teen brings her hands to hold the sides of her face.

Aurore is taken aback, as far as everyone knew, Marinette was one of the very few students to avoid being Akumatized. "Oh shit. We should get out of here.", the blonde suddenly stands straight, getting off the locker she was leaning against.

Kagami on the other hand, is panicking internally. If Marinette was akumatized, than that would mean that there would be no way to purify the akuma, nothing would be fixed. They're fucked. All of them. Marinette will certainly be the game changer that Hawk Moth has been waiting for. He's finally done it, he's bested Ladybug, most likely, without even knowing it.

"All of you need to go, immediately, Marinette is not holding back anymore, the akuma's warped her and she's coming for everyone.", Noir finally steps into the room completely. "Get as far away as you all can."

Kagami gets off of Alya, allowing the girl to crawl over to her boyfriend. She falls silent as both teens get off the floor. Both teens turn to look at Noir.

"We didn't know.", Alya says.

It's a shit excuse from Chloé's prospective. Noir immediately shuts her down. "Shut up.", she says coldly, "You're responsible for your actions. Just cause 'you didn't know', doesn't suddenly rectify what's happened. You can apologize all you want after all this, if me and Ladybug are even able to fix this mess. You can beg her for forgiveness, but I can certainly tell you with certainty, you're a terrible friend. All of you are."

It's harsh, Noir doesn't hold back. Everyone falls silent while Alya and Nino digest Noir's harsh words.

"Now, get out of here, I'm a little tempted to smack you around myself.", Noir threatens.

Alya and Nino silently leave without wasting too much time.

"I suggest the two of you head in any other direction, as long as you aren't caught with them. After all, Marinette's after them.", Noir suggests. It's definitely the least heroic thing a hero could possibly ever say.

"Y-Yeah.", Mireille says, she quickly turns to her side and grabs Aurore's hand, already tugging her towards the door. She then turns to Kagami, "C'mon, Kagami, we have to go, quick."

"No.", Noir raises a hand. "She stays here. There's a chance Marinette may listen to Ms. Tsurugi.", the hero sighs softly when both Aurore and Mireille give her odd looks.

"B-", just as Aurore begins, Kagami ends it.

"Go, both of you, I'm sure Noir will take care of me.", Kagami breathes out. She wants nothing more than to just have both girls leave the room, she knew why Noir wanted her alone. Or at least, hoped she did.

Both teens gave in and nodded.

"Text us.", Aurore speaks once more.

With that, both teens finally leave. The room falls into a silence, they wait a moment to make sure they're alone.

"Tikki will be getting help for us.", Noir breaks the silence first. She avoids meeting Kagami's gaze, she feels weird, talking to the girl. She knew Kagami hated her, she wasn't subtle about it.

"She's probably getting more miraculouses. Problem with that is, we're going to have choose holders to assist us...people we can trust and people Tikki will approve of.", the Japanese heiress says, she brings a hand up to her face, she pinches the bridge of her nose. So, this was what it was like to be in Marinette's shoes. Having to deal with situations like these, all the time...alone.

"We don't have much time before Marinette and Tikki's bond suffers the consequences.", Noir sighs out, she runs a hand through her messy hair. "It's a no brainer who's going to be Ladybug.", the girl adds. "Tikki said you were the only other Ally Marinette trusted."

Kagami swallows thickly, she nods. She was going to have some big shoes to fill today. Being Ladybug was much more complicated than being a black cat. It required a lot more thought and critical thinking, one wrong move and both Kagami and Noir lose. Deep down, she was scared. She was inexperienced. Wielding a miraculous was something she'd done before, but all those times she wore a miraculous beside Ladybug...she wasn't fighting against someone she cared about. Before Kagami could fall deeper into thought, a hand places itself over her shoulder, pulling her from thought. She slowly turns to Noir, she sees sympathy and sincerity.

"We can do this.", the miraculous wielder says softly. "We can save our Ladybug, our Marinette."

Kagami is hesitant, she hates it. Feeling like this. Feeling uncertain and unsure. She felt oddly underprepared. "Marinette doesn trust too many people.", Kagami says softly. Her eyes searching Noir's own. "I had my doubt about you."

Noir remains silent. Listening.

Kagami sighs and completely turns her body to Noir, to...Chloé.

"You really do care about her…", Kagami's breathes.

Noir frowns for a moment, she looks away and removes her hand from Kagami's shoulder, she thinks. "So...you know who I am?", she asks, her gaze still averting Kagami's own. She avoids the few words Kagami said.

"Yes. I do.", the heiress admits quickly. Marinette kept her in the loop, Marinette truly trusted her and so did the kwamis. Kagami was well aware of who played as Marinette's black cat whenever she didn't. She had some reservations about Chloé. She was afraid that Marinette was setting herself up to get hurt again. But clearly, Chloé was being genuine.

Chloé sighs and she returns her gaze to Kagami's own, it was certainly quite the situation they were in. "I guess I'm not going to be the only awkward one after all."

The ravenette sighs, "It doesn't have to be awkward. We share the same objective. We both want to save Marinette."

Chloé nods, "Yeah.", she moistened her lips and looks away. "Definitely."

The heiress can see something in Chloé gaze, a longing, distant look. She knows what that look is. What it means and maybe if she had paid more attention to the blonde heiress, she would have caught this. She would have noticed sooner. "You care about her right?", Kagami asks.

"Of course I do.", Chloé answers quickly, turning back to the teen in front of her. "I want nothing more than for her to be happy...to just...be okay.", she tenses slightly. She was upset. But she needed to hold it together.

The ravenette sees Sapphire eyes water up slightly. Lips part to speak but just as she begins, Tikki cuts in, flying through the open window.

"You're both here, that's good.", Tikki says with relief.

"These two are the Cat and Ladybug?", Another kwami comes in, followed by two more. Each carrying their jewels.

"Yes, this is Kagami, she will be my temporary holder until we purify the akuma.", Tikki floats over to Kagami to introduce her. She then shifts over to be between Noir and Kagami. "and this is Chloé. She is going to be Plagg's chosen if she decides she's willing to take up the responsibility of being the black cat of destruction."

"Chloé?", Wayzz nearly choked. "Oh my...oh the master will certainly-"

"My Master trusts her, Chloé has changed, she is not the same person she was back then.", Tikki defends the blonde. "I also trust her, she's done nothing but bend over backwards for my master."

Wayzz seems hesitant, he relents. "Okay, okay.", he says, sighing.

"Now what?", the orange kwami speaks. "From what we've been filled in it seems like a losing fight. Just the two of them, no offense."

"Now, now, Trixx, I'm familiar with Kagami-San, she is very skilled and clever, I believe she has what it takes.", a familiar kwami speaks, one that Kagami certainly knew.

"It's not about having what it takes. It's about strength in numbers, just these two, against that whole mess out there...they'll lose.", Trixx stresses. "Marinette's akuma will be stronger, despite being physically separated from the miraculous, she is still a miraculous wielder and that fact alone, makes her a powerful threat."

Tikki frowns heavily, she knows they have little options, she knows that the odds are starting to stack against them.

"This is going to be hard. But I think we need Nino and Alya.", Trixx suggests. "I know they're both apart of the source that has caused your master such grief, but right now, those two have the experience we are in desperate need of."

Tikki turns to Kagami and Chloé, both teens looks displeased with the suggestion.

But they didn't have much choice.

"Okay. Fine.", Tikki yields to the idea. Accepting it.

"What!?", Both Kagami and Chloé yell out in sync.

Both girls began to talk over each other, arguing against Trixx's proposal.

But Tikki was calling the shots here.

"Enough!", Tikki yells out, speaking over the teens. "Both of you!"

Both teens fall silent.

The kwamis are all a little surprised by Tikki's take in initiative.

"Both of you will seek those two out, as for where Longg goes, I'm sure one of you can think of one more Ally.", Tikki speaks with authority. The kwami needed the humans to follow directions, she needed them to think with open minds. She hated the idea as much as they did, but they had very little options. "We need to work together."

Chloé and Kagami share a glance, both reluctant to give in. But they do.

"Okay.", Chloé says first.

Kagami merely nods, unable to say the words.

This certainly got a lot more complicated than any of them wanted it to get.

* * *

Everything is dark.

She cannot see, yet, she knows where she goes and what she does and to whom she does things to.

She feels a mix of emotions. Yet...she's unable to express it, she feels her face, stiff and expressionless, she feels her lips stuck in a tight line, she feels something covering her eyes, wrapped around her head. She feels everything, but is unable to do anything but allow herself to be swallowed up by everything. She feels like she's trapped, trapped in her own body. She's compelled to do these things, going through the motion of swinging her sword around, striking people down, or simply granting those 'she' found worthy enough, 'knighthood'.

She's trying to fight it.

She could hear everything, the screams, the pleas. But she could do nothing. She could only listen and feel.

Feel.

_Feel_.

Internally she drowns in the darkness, alone, surrounded by an ocean of echoes of panicking voices. She's smothered and weighed down, her emotions and burdens anchoring her, keeping her tethered down at the very bottom of the dark depths, preventing her from surfacing. It's like a dream.

All she can do is reach out to faint light that seemed to be too far out of reach.

All she can do is try to scream, only to have her voice muffled out, almost as if her head was stuck underwater.

All she can do, is feel.

_Feel._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be where the action is. *Cough* (and angst) *Cough*
> 
> Feel free to drop comments/critiques/ questions.
> 
> Sorry for any mistakes I may have made!


	12. Virtues Of The (Un)yielding P.3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fear, is not a virtue.
> 
> But courage is.
> 
> And it takes true courage for someone to face who they've become when gripped by fear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeeeeeeyyyyyy...
> 
> So....sup. (lul)
> 
> Alrighty so, here's the sitch my fellow readers, this chapter is split in two, I'm sorry guys, but unfortunately, my weird self somehow typed up a whole ass 20k chapter and I wasn't sure if y'all wanted to read that whole...thing.
> 
> XD
> 
> Editing has been...hell? Lul. But yeah, I tried. 
> 
> So in an attempt to make things simpler, I split the chapter up, dropping 8k here today, and later or tomorrow once I finish editing the other half to the best of my abilities, I will drop the rest...so yeah. XD

It takes them a moment to collect themselves when they see what Marinette's done and that's them not having yet seen what the sweet Dupain-Cheng has truly become. They needed a moment to truly process the scene before them once they exited the school and began jumping from roof to roof. It's heart wrenching and unnerving. It's silent, no people walking around, no birds chirping. Everything seemed to be still.

"They're stone...all of them.", Noir breathes, she sees a few familiar faces below them. All wearing expressions of terror. All frozen in place.

Kagami grimaces and clicks her tongue, she turns away, keeping her gaze ahead of herself, not wanting to continue to see the people turned stone statues. "Let's just hope those idiots weren't caught yet.", deep down, Kagami certainly wanted them to get caught and receive their punishments. Reap what they sowed.

As both teens run and leap from roof to roof, the trio of kwamis followed the humans, each becoming more and more unnerved by the situation, each, starting to feel dread as they began to truly take in what was happening. The fact that Marinette was akumatized was surprising, she was a Ladybug, Ladybug's were special. Just like how Black Cats were.

"I can't believe Marinette has become akumatized…", Wayzz says sadly, "Master was surprised as well.". Fu was certainly taken aback, afraid even. Tikki rushing to them, telling them about Marinette finally and truly hitting rock bottom, shook Fu to his core. The man knew that without Ladybug, nothing would be fixed.

"Don't worry too much, Wayzz.", Kagami says the Kwami's name, "Together, we can do this.", she speaks with confidence.

Chloé merely follows behind Kagami, listening on.

There were questions. Many in fact, but the primary one both Chloé and Kagami had was, who was this 'Master', the Kwami's spoke off. Marinette hadn't mentioned anything about another party being involved in her life and now that both girls think about it, neither even knew where the kwamis came from and how Marinette originally got a hold of the Ladybug miraculous, although both figured that whoever this 'master' person was, clearly, he had all of the miraculouses. After all, Tikki had gone off, to tell him what happened to Marinette, and suddenly she returns with more kwamis by her sides. Clearly, there were more people behind the miraculouses, more people that knew the truth. There was more at play here and both couldn't help but wonder how all of this came to be. How did it all begin.

"Both Nino and Alya cannot know of Marinette's true role as Ladybug.", Wayzz speaks again, his miraculous was hugged against his chest, "We must protect her identity and save her at all costs."

"Yes, certainly. Without Ms. Dupain-Cheng nothing will truly be fixed. We must somehow save her first.", Longg pipes up.

Longg's words catch both teens attention. "What do you mean?", Chloé finally speaks up, eyebrows furrow as she turns to her side to look at the kwami directly. "Doesn't Kagami have to just capture the Akuma and purify it?", she says, a little confused. The kwamis were making it seem like saving Marinette was more important than capturing the akuma itself.

And that's when the situation suddenly becomes almost impossible to fix.

"That's the problem.", Trixx speaks now. "Tikki didn't tell you did she? Oh gods, of course she didn't.", Trixx groans. "Kagami capturing the Akuma would do little for us.", he says. "You see. Only Marinette can bring fourth the miraculous ladybugs after purification of an akuma, she is the original Ladybug, Tikki's original Chosen and Bond Master, she is apart of the balance between Creation and Destruction.", the fox kwami explains. "Only two people can be apart of that very fragile balance, the Ladybug and the Black Cat."

Kagami and Chloé begin to slow their pace and come to a halt on the roof of a building just across from Alya's home.

"You're shitting me right?", Chloé curses, eyes widen. "Are tell me that we can't do anything about...everyone being turned to stone and the city getting fucked up?", the blonde continues to curse, her heart began to pick up. Anxiousness and fear begin to gnaw at her, she feels a tugging sinking feeling in her stomach. There was nothing Kagami being Ladybug could do.

The kwami all look at each other. There's a moment of silence between the Kwamis and the humans.

Trixx sighs deeply, "There's nothing the both of you can do to reverse this. You can purify the akuma, but it will not bring fourth the miraculous ladybugs."

Kagami practically sinks down to her knees. "Then...what's the point of this...of...any of this…", the little confidence and hope she had left was starting to fade.

"Tikki believes Marinette can be reached with reason.", Comes a voice suddenly.

Both teens jump and turn to look back, both were startled.

"MASTER!", the three kwamis all called out in unison, the trio flew passed Chloé and Kagami, they got between the teens and the man using a familiar miraculous.

"Xuppu was certainly surprised when I removed him from the miracle box, but I figured that I would be more useful out here than at home.", the man says to the kwamis. He smiles slightly, his gaze then removes itself from the hopeful kwamis to the confused Teens. "Hello, I do not interact much outside of Marinette and the passed Black Cat miraculous holder. For the safety of the miraculous of course. But today I chose to come out here to assist however I can.", he bows slightly to greet the two girls.

Both Chloé and Kagami turn to give each other looks.

"So...you're the 'master' that Wayzz and the kwamis refer to…", Kagami says, she sighs and bows down for a moment, her manners getting the better of her, even in this messy situation.

Chloé merely narrows her eyes, she remains standing, tall and stiff. She had quite a few words in mind for the 'master'. She certainly wanted to give him a piece of her mind. Her lips tug into a firm tight frown.

The man instantly notices the dirty look the Black Cat holder is giving to him. He knows the girl is internally blaming him. "May I ask what are your names?", He says, ignoring the angry look on The Black Cat's face.

Kagami stands up straight and nods, "Yes, I am Tsurugi Kagami.", she introduces herself, she then turns to Chloé and she knows by the way the heiress is frowning that the blonde isn't interested in responding. She sighs deeply and gestures to Chloé. "And this is Chloé Bourgeois.", the teen says.

The man is visibly taken aback.

Chloé rolls her eyes. "You sure know who I am.", the blonde says with a bite. She takes note of the way the man's facial expression changed dramatically.

Kagami narrows her eyes and brings a hand up, placing it over Chloé's tense shoulder. "Chloé.", she says with a slight warning tone.

The man collects himself and turns to Wayzz.

"Tikki has informed us that Chloé has had a change of heart.", Wayzz shrugs as he explains to his master.

"The both of you know about Ladybug's duel identity?". The man huffs slightly, taking in Wayzz's response, clearly feeling uneasy now. The man didn't trust either of the teens, after Adrien ended up being a spoiled apple, Fu began to doubt everyone and little by little, his faith in Marinette was beginning to dwindle. Marinette's judgement was muddled, Fu couldn't help but think. "So she revealed herself to the both of you?", he can't help but ask, he wants to know how her identity came out.

"No.", both teens respond in unison.

And Fu raises an eyebrow, the kwamis are all silent. They're all eager to also know how Chloé Bourgeois and Kagami came to find themselves here.

"Tikki revealed herself to me.", Kagami explains.

Chloé nods and crosses her arms over her chest. "Tikki also revealed herself to me as well."

Fu is wide eyed for a moment. So, it wasn't Marinette that outed herself. It had been Tikki. He's slightly confused, he wonders what may have been going through the kwami's mind when she revealed Marinette's secret.

"Marinette was furious.", Kagami suddenly adds. She sighs again, she remembered their conversation then, she remembered how angry and frustrated Marinette was when Tikki exposed her. "Marinette wasn't planning on letting me in on...this…", she gestures to the Ladybug suit she wears.

Fu feels confidence suddenly. His doubts whisked away. If there were living beings he could trust, it were certainly the kwamis. "I see. Tikki must have a logical reason behind her actions then.", he would say nothing more about this to either girl. He didn't trust them fully, but he did trust Tikki, she always did things for reasons. He comes to a conclusion. He knows that in order for them to work out, the girls would have to truly be informed, to be in the loop. "Well then. I guess I must disclose who I am and what purpose I serve.", he says, making his mind up, maybe this was for the better. Revealing himself, opening a path to a better and clearer way of communicating. He sighs softly and suddenly says those magic words, in a flash of light, he stands before the two teens as an old man.

The kwamis are all surprised, they all gasp, even Xuppu gasped.

Kagami tenses, she feels Chloé tense as well. They both remain silent.

"I am Wang Fu, The Guardian of the miraculous. For the past one hundred and seventy four years, I have been trying to locate the Peacock and Butterfly miraculouses. My journey has brought me here. Marinette and a boy were the first chosen I tasked with stripping our enemies of their miraculouses. Now only Marinette, the wielder of the miraculous of creation remains.", Fu feels the gazes of the kwamis and the humans upon him, he remains still. "Marinette is the one I've put in charge of distributing any and all miraculouses in my possession as she sees fit so that I wouldn't have to expose my role to unknown people."

"You're...the person that holds them all…", Kagami says thoughtfully. "Why choose Marinette in the first place", she asks suddenly, feeling the need to know. She brings her gaze up to meet Fu's own. She was angry, angry that Marinette had been thrust into this whole ordeal from the beginning.

"She was younger when I first chose her, I took a chance on her and the boy I chose, I knew then that I was not exactly fit to continue to run around. I am but an old man. All I can do is offer words of wisdom or assist in reactivating the hidden powers of the miraculouses. I made the wrong choice with the boy I chose. But Marinette continued to prove herself worthy of being a chosen. Marinette was determined to help those in need, to protect those that couldn't protect themselves. I chose her because I saw hope in her, I saw potential for more.", the man explains, his hands resting on his cane. "Marinette is strong, she's made it this long without being akumatized, she's fought against her basic human emotions for so long now.", Fu sighs, he knows how hard Marinette was trying to hold herself together in the face of everything that has happened lately, he understands that Marinette is human, she's still a child in his eyes. "She is a person of conviction. Tikki believes that Marinette can still be reached and I as well hold some belief that Marinette can still come out of this, break free from Hawk Moth's control.", Fu says, "But we will need to work together."

Chloé sighs and nods, she takes in all the information, some questions running through her mind. "What happened to Marinette's first partner?", she asks without thinking. "Was he killed?", she continues with her questions.

Kagami freezes, she knows the truth about Chat Noir, Marinette's done nothing but have guilt and regret about him.

Fu's expression becomes forlorn. He gave an honest answer. "Marinette was no longer safe with him. He...strayed.", the man looks down to the tiles under his feet. "Marinette hasn't had a proper Black Cat since myself and her stripped the boy of the miraculous."

Chloé raises an eyebrow, this was certainly not an answer she was expecting. "Why…what did he do?", she asks another question. Curiosity getting the better of her.

This time, Kagami answers, a firm frown over her lips. "He was forcing her to reciprocate his advances.", she removes her hand from Chloé's shoulder and waits for Chloé to react.

Which Chloé does. Teeth gritting for a moment, nostrils flared and fists ball up. "He did what?", she turns to Kagami now. She was trying to process this new information. Hell, everything, she's never felt so out of the loop until now. Marinette's hurt was more deeper than she thought and it was scaring her that Marinette had gone through the worst at the hands of Plagg's previous master.

Kagami knows that Chloé has thought of the worst possible scenario, she's quick to calm her. "Relax, Tikki and Plagg both intervened. They protected her.", she says.

But Kagami's words fall onto deaf ears for a moment. Chloé begins to ponder, think. Why hadn't Marinette told her. If Marinette had even spoke of all of it, of what she really went through with Chat Noir. Chloé can't help but wonder if there was more that Marinette wasn't speaking of. Why was it that Marinette had to deal with so much and such a shitty partner at the same time. Chloé feels her chest ache. Marinette's hurting more than she could possibly imagine, there was a weight of pain there, a pain Marinette silently carried with her.

Kagami and Fu see the heiress fall into a thoughtful silence. They both knew that Chloé was taking it in. Processing it for what it was.

"Nothing happened.", Kagami breaks the silence again, wanting to make sure Chloé understands that Marinette wasn't...forced into anything too drastic.

Chloé is tense, but calms down. Marinette had so much on her plate, all the time, she couldn't help but think, she also couldn't help but acknowledge that she too was also a part of Marinette's problems...back then, when they were just mere 12 year olds…she cringes. She had a lot to make up for before even thinking about her feelings for Marinette. She truly was such a pain in the ass. "So you're going to stay with us...through this shit storm?", Chloé finally speaks, her eyes flicker to where Fu stood. Arms falling to her sides.

Fu smiles lightly, he nods. Such fowl language he thought to himself. "Yes, together I'm sure we can snap Marinette back to her senses."

Kagami crosses her arms over her chest. "Together than. Now. We need to get these kwami-"

"Wait.", Fu raises a hand, stopping Kagami mid sentence.

"Yes?", Kagami asks. Pausing.

"We will need three wielders,Alya Césaire is one of them, but she will not be paired with Trixx. There is also someone for Xuppu.", Fu begins.

Chloé raises an eyebrow, "So…", she trails off, beginning to think about how they would go about pairing the other kwamis with someone.

Fu sighs, he continues. "I will be taking Wayzz. As for Longg, I believe he and Césaire should be paired. Xuppu, will go find his previous temporary holder and inform him of our need of him.", the man then proceeds to take off the monkey miraculous, he gives it to Xuppu. "Go now, time is of the essence."

Xuppu gave the man a firm nod. "Yes, Master, you can count on me.", the kwami says and quickly makes off in another direction.

3 of the 4 kwamis were now paired. Trixx was the odd one out. "What about me?", Trixx asks, confused as to what part he would play, if he even had a part.

"I'm placing you in permanent circulation.", Fu says. "I will leave Kagami and Chloé to hand pick an ally they can trust and one that will work alongside Ladybug and…", Fu turns to Chloé. He raises an eyebrow once the heiress looks his way with a confused expression.

"Noir?", Kagami says a little unsure. She turns to Chloé. "Noir, right?"

"Uh…", Chloé shrugs, unsure. "I mean...yeah...it's the name Marinette took on when she used Plagg."

Fu smiles lightly again. Marinette was no longer going to be playing the role of Black Cat. That role was never hers to stay with. "Tell me something, Ms. Bourgeois.", he begins to slowly take steps towards the blonde, his eyes not leaving hers. "How long are you willing to hold onto the miraculous of destruction?", he asks carefully as she stops just an arms reach away from her.

The heiress's eyebrows furrow for a moment. She hadn't thought much about it...although, Ladybug had offered the ring to her months back...when were starting to build something together, her and Marinette. Chloé knows that once this is all over and once (hopefully) they manage to find a way to fix everything, Marinette will once again not have a Black Cat for constant support. Marinette would have to continue shuffling the ring between herself and that other person that played Noir when she didn't. She takes a deep breath in and gently exhales it out, "For however long Marinette needs me to.", she answers sincerely. She certainly meant what she said, she wanted nothing more than to just be there for Marinette in however way she was needed. She would support Ladybug and she would support Marinette.

Fu nods. "Than I believe the miraculous of destruction has it's holder at last. I look forward to seeing you grow.", he says.

"As for you, Kagami, you will be given the dragon miraculous, but only after I modify the outward appearance it takes with you, I'm well aware that you've taken Longg before but your identity had been quickly compromised.", Fu says, He looks between the two teens and sees they've become more confident.

Longg and Wayzz both smile lightly. Trixx however, was a little upset. He'd be separated from the box and his friends. He'd be thrust into the hands of another stranger. He became somewhat attached to Alya, she had used him quite a few times over the years. He certainly hated that she made such a mess out of her friendship with the Ladybug hero. He hated the fact that she played a part in what is happening now.

"Wayzz.", Fu turns to Wayzz and reaches out.

"Of course, Master", Wayzz nods eagerly, he draws closer to his master and drops the bracelet into one of Fu's hands.

Fu wastes no time and immediately slips the bracelet onto his wrist and he says those magic words. "Wayzz, shell on."

And it begins.

* * *

"No- Pl-Please!", a familiar voice shrieks.

It's echos carries itself around in the darkness. It surrounds her.

"Oh God! Please wait! Marinette-!", another voice comes, echoing like a clap of thunder during a storm.

She tries to scream 'stop!', she wants to stop, she wants this to stop. Her words come out muffled, she can't hear herself clearly.

"-Marinette, stop this please! This isn't you!", the voice of a woman she looked up to once upon a time, cuts in, coming in like another clap of thunder. "Marinette, please!". The woman speaks again. A woman who she's grown up being taught by, a woman that failed her despite knowing her for so long. Despite knowing that she was always such a good student. "We can talk about this...work through whatever this is! There's always another way!"

And the hurt begins to grow, the fog in her mind begins to thicken and the darkness she was struggling to swim in, began to grow thicker and heavier.

"_Talk about it_?", a voice speaks and suddenly the cries and panicked shrieks of everyone else begins to die down.

And she gets this sick feeling washing over her.

"_Oh, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk_-", she hears the sound of a tongue clicking, "_how could you even say that to me_?", the voice carries a dark ominous tone. It's unsettling and unnerving as she listens closely, "_How could you even say that, knowing full well how much I tried to talk about it. How could you say that when you were one of the first people to tell me to just **let it go**_.", anger begins to make the voice quake. She feels her heart racing as she begins to fully realize that her mouth was moving. "_How could you say that when you just stood by and let them hurt me_.", the last part comes out as a whisper, it passes through the darkness like a sharp breeze of cold air.

"M-Marinette…", the woman's voice shakes. "I-", and before she can speak another sentence, the sound of air being cut silences her.

Nothing more comes out of, Ms. Bustier's mouth. Not a single sound.

"-Oh god, run!"

"Everybody run!"

"-Ms. Bustier!"

The voices began to flood back in, panic and screaming accompanied them.

She feels herself sinking deeper and deeper into the darkness that surrounds her, she feels herself losing the last bit of will she had left. She feels herself surrendering completely to the darkness. She closes her eyes, ready to turn in. She stops fighting it.

"_Yes, Hawk Moth_"

Suddenly eyes open.

"Marinette...honey, please!", a man begs with her, a man that was none other than her father. Marinette feels her heart clenching slightly, her chest tightens. Here she was, having embraced Hawk Moth's Akuma. Standing among a few stone statues. She looks away from the man and her mother who cried for her too. She brings her gaze down to the sword she wields in her left hand, then turns her gaze to her other hand, a white blindfold was in the grasp of her right hand. She's processing what she's done.

_"What are you waiting for, my dear princess? You've exacted revenge against those who have dealt you wrong."_, Hawk Moth's voice is now in her head again._ "Go and fetch the miraculouses."_, he speaks again. His tone was coaxing and slightly cajoling.

Marinette had a single thought of saying 'no', but as she thought this, her, Princess Virtue's lips parted and answered a soft, "Yes, Hawk Moth."

_"Perfect. Now make use of your knights, drag the heroes out from wherever they're hiding."_, The man suggests.

Princess Virtue nods, she raises an arm up, pointing her sword up in the air before saying a soft command.

"Knights, advance.", Princess Virtue says.

And Marinette can't help but fall further into despair when she sees said knights begin to walk past her, marching in sync.

"Marinette!", Her mother suddenly calls out to her, nearly running up to her, but she was cut off by two knights clad in white armor, both grabbing the woman, stopping her from reaching her, only to shove her back into her father's arms.

The two knights began to back away, standing close beside her, then four more came and surrounded her, protecting her, boxing her in from all sides except the front and she began to move alongside them, ignoring the cries from her parents, she stepped over some of the statues of people she knew. She turns her gaze to the blindfold in her grasp, slowly she brings her hand up and she cautiously wrapped the blindfold around her head, covering her eyes once again.

* * *

_"I don't know what it is, but I feel as though something about this girl is truly...different.", Gabriel says to Nathalie. "Her emotions rule her in a way I have yet to witness in the others I have akumatized.", the man continues, awe in his tone. He had been waiting for her, waiting for Marinette to become overwhelmed. "Yet...despite her being emotionally fragile...it's taken me this long to finally grasp her.", eyes narrow. He's never waited this long for someone._

_Nathalie nods from behind the man, she understands, she's come to see Gabriel's odd growing fascination with the girl, a girl Gabriel has finally come to identify as the Dupain-Cheng girl. She's taken notes from the handful of times Gabriel has tried to send an akuma out in time to akumatize the highly emotionally charged person, only to see him recoil in slight frustration when said person managed to once again calm themselves down. It was truly different, odd even, it became clear that the person feeling those raw emotions was purposely fighting against them. Why? She and Gabriel have yet to discern the reasoning._

_Gabriel had grown anxious everytime he sent an akuma out only for it to akumatize someone else, he didn't know what it was, the tugging he got when he felt that sharp pain of raw emotional distress. He couldn't help but want to grasp onto the person that felt things so intensely, so strongly. It was truly fascinating. The girl was going to be something else at first, Lady Woe, he believed that she was very unhappy, so deeply miserable, but as each time her emotions exploded, he believed there was something else going, multiple things factoring in on this girl's suffering. He couldn't help but feel as though she was being...wronged. Gabriel balls a fist up and keeps his gaze forward. Yes, she was being wronged. The world had a tendency to do wrong by good people. The girl wasn't craving happiness. She was craving justice. Thus, as a girl of many virtues indeed, he would give to her the ability to punish those that have hurt her and wronged her. "She's doing well so far, we just need the heroes to finally come out of wherever they're hiding from.", he says._

_Nathalie nods, eyes narrowing slightly, a part of her was growing concerned, wondering where Ladybug and her new sidekick were and why it was taking them so long to appear. "Ladybug has never taken this long before."_

_Gabriel nods in agreement. "I agree, but I'm sure she's due to show up...she has to, maybe she's just picking up her stray cat.", he murmurs the last part. Ladybug was becoming more and more unorganized, this much Gabriel has realized and noticed. He couldn't help but wonder what became of Chat Noir, the boy had just up and vanished, Ladybug has yet to publicly even comment on the matter. "I wonder which stray she'll bring this time."_

_Nathalie sighs softly from behind the man, "You're guess is as good as mine, Sir."_

* * *

Chloé sucks in a breath as she anxiously awaits Kagami's return. She had let Kagami do the choosing and handing out, she didn't exactly trust herself to make wise decisions at a crucial time like now. The last thing she wanted to do was make a mistake.

"Relax.", Master Fu says softly. He stands a few feet away from the anxious teen, he noticed the way Chloé anxiously shook one of her knees.

Chloé blows a breath out, "It's easier said than done.", she says, trying to keep her sass in check.

Fu turns his gaze away from the teen and merely looks around the large abandoned area they were in, they managed to find a good hiding place in a warehouse of sorts, one that was still under construction. He couldn't help but feel anxious himself, but he knew that now wasn't the time to allow himself to be weighed down, Chloé and Kagami needed to be directed and he had to be the one giving those directions. He needed to keep both girls together and also keep Alya and whoever else Kagami brought back with her in check along with the boy that would now hold Xuppu.

Things needed to be cleared out before midnight and although Fu knew they seemingly had more than enough time to figure this mess out, he also knew that time had a habit of moving like water when desperate times arose.

"Master.", a voice comes.

Chloé tenses as she hears Kagami's voice. She sighs deeply once again, preparing herself to see Alya again and also the two other holders

Fu turns to the four teens that had appeared, he hums as he takes in the appearance of the small group. He focuses on the brunette, The Fox holder and the Monkey holder.

While Fu internally scrutinizes the teens, Kagami remains on a knee, merely awaiting what Fu's plan was now and how they'd execute it.

"This is...so surreal.", The Fox holder suddenly speaks up, breaking the silence, hands clasped together and a look of awe on her face despite their correct predicament.

Chloé raises an eyebrow and scoffs. "I get why we need monkey boy and her.", Noir points to Alya wielding the Dragon Miraculous as she said the word 'her' with a bite. "-but a noob?", She says as she brings her finger over to the awestruck blonde that was quite frankly gawking at her.

Kagami rolled her eyes, "Oh? You think you could do better?", Kagami sent a small glare Chloé's way.

Chloé sneered and was going to speak again, but Fu quickly cut her off.

"Enough, both of you!", Fu says firmly.

Both Kagami and Chloé apologize a little begrudgingly.

"We will fail if the both of you cannot function properly. The world as we know it may very well be in danger.", Fu continues. "You two must set aside your differences and cooperate."

"Yes Master.", Kagami sighs.

"Yeah, yeah…", Chloé groans, arms crossing over her chest.

"Good.", The man sighs out and returns his gaze to the trio behind Kagami. "You three have been called upon, all three of you chose to be here and aid us in this dire situation.", he gets to the point. "Two out of the three of you have wielded miraculouses before. So I expect you both to watch over each other and watch over the fox.", he continues. "Ladybug and Noir must not fall during this battle. You three will have roles, each of you is to keep the enemy off of the both of them, at all costs."

The trio all look at each other and then back at Fu, they nod.

"Okay.", King Monkey nods his head, crossing his arms over his chest. "But...don't you think maybe...we're still a little undermanned? The fox here doesn't really count, she's new.", Kim says, bringing up quite a point as he slowly began to step forward, he got beside the kneeling Ladybug.

Kagami sighs for what seems like the hundredth time. The boy was certainly right. "There's a whole army of knights out there.", she adds.

"Getting to Marinette is going to be difficult, we don't know where she is.", The boy continues. "There are others no?", he asks, referring to the others that wore miraculouses the same day he wore his for the first time.

Fu nods. "Yes, but we are very thin on options and time. Most of those who have once wielded the miraculous have already fallen victim to whatever it is Marinette has done to them. We are all that's available."

The atmosphere of the room suddenly gets heavy.

"Shit.", The boy curses and raises a hand to rub the back of his head. He certainly didn't expect this, especially after he was akumatized. He was a little iffy on doing what Xuppu was asking of him, he didn't feel right, he didn't believe he was fit for this kind of situation, after all, the akumatized was Marinette, someone he knew that he had wronged. But Xuppu had told him to use this chance to try to rectify things, to ease his conscience. He, reluctantly agreed, he wanted to save Marinette of course, he just didn't feel like he was worthy of wielding Xuppu once more.

Meanwhile, The Fox Hums softly, bringing a hand up to her chin, she was certainly new to this, just moments ago she was in her bed, waiting for her girlfriend to come back from making them some snacks, next thing she knows, the Ladybug fill in pops her window open and practically pulls her out her window while also handing her a 'miraculous' and giving her a speedy run down of why she was suddenly chosen for the role of the fox. She had asked about Rena, the original fox hero, but got no answers. She was still feeling quite lost and a little anxious. She felt ill prepared.

Fu looks between the teens, searching their gazes, reading them. "Are you all ready to take on this mission? If so, then step forward, if not, then turn back now and hand the miraculous over."

The room falls silent for a moment. Everyone's eyes shifting, looking around at each other. Neither wanting to back out despite knowing they had valid reasons for doing so if they so chose to leave.

Fu nods, "Alright then. Let's begin."

* * *

It's dark and Princess Virtue is silent again, the only things that can be heard is the distant shouts of people and the sound of marching boots.

It echoes in her head.

Marinette is aware and emotional distraught, but she is unable to do anything, she's stuck, trapped in her body, a body that moves without her permission. She's afraid. She doesn't know how this will end, if it will even end. She messed up, she fucked up. Her mistake may never be rectified. She failed.

So many thoughts ran through her head.

"Marinette!", a voice calls out from a distance.

It snaps Marinette out her thoughts, she feels her body stop walking, she feels her neck turning towards the source of the very familiar voice.

_"Finally, they've shown themselves and it seems they brought company."_, Hawk Moth says eagerly._ "Throw everything you have at them my princess and bring me their miraculouses!"_

"Yes, Hawk Moth.", lips move in response.

"Up there!", a deep voice from one of the closest knights to her rumbles.

Marinette feels anxiousness begin to gnaw at her.

"Marinette, this isn't you!", another voice joins in, and Marinette feels her despair growing and deepening. She recognizes the other voice.

* * *

_"Finally!", Gabriel says as he balls a fist up tightly, "They've come, with others, but I'm sure the Knights can do away with them.", he says._

_Nathalie nods. She feels herself growing anxious._

_Gabriel chuckles darkly, the anticipation was definitely something._

* * *

Chloé balls her fists up, her shoulders trembling and her knees were like jelly. She clenched her jaw tightly, gritting her teeth, as much as she wanted to look away, she couldn't. She had been suddenly stricken with awe upon laying her gaze over the teen's form.

They finally found Marinette.

"Marinette.", The Fox whispers softly under her breath.

Fu feels his chest tighten, his lips pressed into a tight line as he took in the sight before him.

Kagami felt her heart break. Her eyes scanning her best friends form.

Before them, what was once Marinette, stood, straight and intimidating among a good amount of Knights. Her hair was loose, her eyes covered with a white blindfold, she was clad in a white dress of sorts, parts of the material were see through, her right leg and shoulder weren't covered by the material, her stomach exposed. Through the material of the dress, one could very faintly make out the white underwear just underneath the thin fabric. There was also a faint glow that surrounded her.

She was-

"Beautiful.", Noir whispers under her breath. Completely and utterly mesmerized. Something unknowingly wrapping itself around her. It was as if tunnel vision was setting in, something began to cloud over her thoughts.

Fu's eyes flicker to Chloé, he notices immediately that something's wrong. "Noir?", he suddenly speaks.

Noir doesn't respond. She's transfixed on the akumatized Dupain-Cheng.

Fu's eyes begin to widen, worry setting in. He breaks his gaze off the teen and looks to Kagami in fear, only to find her wearing the same expression that Chloé was wearing.

"Look away!", Fu suddenly yells out to the trio of heroes that had yet to become fixated on the sight of Marinette's form.

And the trio instantly do as they are told, breaking their gazes off from Marinette. They turned to look at the older man.

"What!? What is it?!", Kim says, fear evident in his tone, his eyes wide.

"Noir and Ladybug are in some form of trance, Marinette's appearance seems to be able to enthrall those who look at her just long enough.", Fu explains quickly. "Quickly, grab Noir and Ladybug-", and just before Fu can finish his sentence, Noir suddenly jumps off the building. "NOIR!", the man yells.

The teen had jumped off, landing in a small crowd of knights.

* * *

_"Yes! Of course! Of course they're heroes!", Gabriel laughs darkly. "And what do heroes usually have?", he asks to no one in particular._

_"Morally good traits.", Nathalie speaks._

_"Yes. In other words-", Gabriel grins, "-Virtues."_

* * *

Princess Virtue's lips begin to curl upwards and Marinette feels her heart remaining in the pit of her stomach, she's afraid. "Come, come, hero of Justice.", Marinette's voice echos in her ears, she feels her hand with the sword in its grasp extending outwards, towards someone.

_"Good, good my Princess, turn Noir into one of your Knights and get me her ring!_", Hawk Moth's voice is filled with excitement and triumph.

"Of course Hawk Moth.", Princess Virtue responds without skipping a beat. "Kneel before me bearer of Valor.", she speaks again.

"I don't think so!", comes another voice. A deeper one.

And Marinette feels her body move backwards, as if dodging something.

"Grab Noir!", Another deep voice calls out.

And Marinette suddenly hears the sound of metal meeting metal and multiple feets shuffling about.

"Snap out of it, Noir!", another voice joins in, this one was familiar, but Marinette couldn't exactly place it.

* * *

_"That's not Ladybug.", Gabriel suddenly grumbles, "What is going on with Ladybug? Has she abandoned our battle?", a sense of disappointment began to set itself in._

_"Ladybug isn't among them?", Nathalie asks in surprise._

_"A Ladybug is there, but she isn't the original. This one's different, her hair and eyes….", the man grit his teeth in anger, Chat Noir leaving was one thing, but Ladybug suddenly being switched out. Now that was unacceptable. "Enough, End this now!", his delicate tone from earlier was replaced. He commanded Princess Virtue with a deep tone._

* * *

Kagami grunted as she leapt over a few knights clad in black armor, she managed to avoid the swords swung her way.

"Ladybug, keep your gaze down.", Fu says as he lands beside her. He did not anticipate what Marinette would have become, he didn't expect this turn of events. The effect Marinette had, was a lot more difficult to get by.

"It's a little tough to keep looking at the floor.", Alya commented as she flipped a knight onto their back. The brunette was struggling to avert her gaze from her former best friend, a gnawing in the back of her head was making it difficult for her. Guilt.

Kim jumped over a few knights, carrying a dazed Noir over his shoulder. "Guys, Noir's not snapping back!", he said with growing panic.

"She's staring at Marinette!", Kagami yells out as she lifts her gaze for a second, only to see that Chloé's gaze was still in fact transfixed on Marinette. "Take her away from here, give her a chance to snap back. Then come back.", she suggests to the boy carrying Chloé.

"Yes, take her away from here.", Fu adds, "Ladybug regained herself once she was no longer looking at Marinette. Noir should be able to do the same."

The heroes all begin to fall back, all wanting to retreat to better plan out their advancement against Marinette and her forces. But it wasn't going to be that simple. No, it wasn't.

Princess Virtue's lips part, "No one's going anywhere.", She said in a monotone voice."Knights, capture them", her hand with the sword raised up high.

And the knights scattered, all charging towards the heroes from all sides and things very quickly fell in Hawk Moth's favor once the heroes are all of a sudden overwhelmed by the numbers surrounding them.

The Fox is quick to try to flee, quickly scrambling to create distance between herself and the knights, but she's caught by her legs and quickly pulled down to the cold concrete ground, four knights take a hold of her and pin her down to the ground.

Fu quickly unleashes his barrier, providing shelter for the heroes close by, Kagami, Kim and Chloé.

Alya was the other odd one out and she too was caught and grabbed despite her efforts in fighting back, she took a few knights down, but it was futile, in taking one down, two more came, then in taking them down, three more came at her and fairly quickly the brunette had been beaten down brutally, her sword tossed askew. She had been grabbed, tied up and kicked to the ground.

"Oh shit!", Kim cursed, he was kneeling on the ground behind Noir, his hands covering Noir's eyes while he looked on at what happened to both The Fox and The Dragon.

Kagami grit her teeth, "No...Tsk", she clicked her tongue, her eyes narrowed as the knights suddenly stopped beating against the barrier Fu had created. Anxiousness begins set itself inside her once more, fear and uncertainty followed suit as the knights suddenly parted, making a clear path to where Marinette stood.

"Marinette, you must fight it! This is not you!", Fu began, he turned away to avoid looking at Marinette directly. "You are better than this, snap out of it, Marinette!", he clenched his jaw for a moment and continued, "There is always solution to everything, Marinette, you must trust-"

And suddenly something in Marinette snaps for the third time in the passed few months. Anger, betrayal and hatred all begin to brew at the same time.

"-Trust in what?", lips part, the words come out ice cold and hollow, knuckles turn white as Princess Virtue suddenly grips the sword in her hand with a strength that nearly startles Marinette, she can feel it, her grip tightening to the point where she feels her hand going numb.

* * *

_Gabriel's eyebrows furrow for a moment, he listens in, a part of him feeling a little overwhelmed by the fact that today may just be the day that he finally strips the heroes of their miraculouses, but another part of him feels strangely off. He couldn't put a finger on it._

_"What's going on?", Nathalie asks, quite curious to know how everything was going due to how silent Gabriel had fallen._

_"She's caught two miraculous holders and cornered the rest of those fools.", Gabriel merely responds. "I think today may just be our day.", he sighs._

_Nathalie raises an eyebrow, she falls back into silence._

* * *

"How many times have I been told that phrase. How many times has everyone told me that there was a solution to everything.", Lips part and pearly white teeth become visible. "Yet, how many times have I been dealt the shortest straw."

Kim winces as he hears the sudden hurt in Marinette's voice. He keeps his gaze to the ground in front of Marinette's feet.

Fu also winces, grimacing, he knows, he knows that Marinette was hurting, "I understand-"

"No, you don't!", Princess Virtue's voice suddenly raises and cracks, it's like a clap of thunder among the silent crowd of knights. "No one does.", her voice begins to drop to a more normal tone.

"No! Get off me!", The Fox's voice suddenly comes in, the sound of her kicking and shuffling about in vain echos among the crowd.

Alya's protests followed closely.

Both heroes were thrown to the ground in front of Princess Virtue. Both grabbed by the knights and forced to kneel before her.

Fu can no longer avert his gaze, he turns his full attention to the scene that was unfolding before them. "Marinette, do not do this.", he pleads, desperation in his voice as he meets her blindfolded gaze.

A small malicious smile curls pink lips.

Kagami slowly lifts her gaze, she doesn't look directly at her best friends face, but she looks at the backs of both the Fox and the Dragon. "Marinette please!", she yells, her voice cracking. "Don't give in! Don't let Hawk Moth control you!"

"Huh? Wh-What's going on?", Noir suddenly speaks as she begins to move in Kim's arms. She was confused.

"You were under the Akuma's control, relax and keep your eyes down, don't look at Marinette directly or you'll fall for it again.", Kim said as he slowly began to remove his hands from the girl's eyes.

"O-Ok.", Noir merely mutters as she regains her sight again, she quickly stares at her boots. She wonders what she's missed. But very quickly, she learns.

"I never mattered did I?", Princess Virtue suddenly says, stepping forward she raises her free hand and grabs her blindfold, she pulls it off and gazes upon the two heroes kneeled before her, both had screwed their eyes shut. "It was never about me. It was never about how I felt or what I wanted.", her jaw clenched as she snapped her fingers and once she snapped them, two knights forced The Dragon holder to her feet, they held her up. Princess Virtue's smile faded away, a firm frown settling in as she handed a knight beside her, her sword. With two hands, Princess Virtue strips The Dragon miraculous off of the brunette. Alya now stands before her.

Alya grimaces, she opens her eyes and is quickly face to face with the coldest gaze she's ever met. "Marinette.", she utters in fear. Regret and guilt washes over her suddenly, it almost hurts.

Princess Virtue's expression changes, hurt and sadness breaks the cold distant expression she wore.

And there it is again, another snap. But it stings just a little more.

"Please, don't.", Longg speaks as he floats beside the teen who was holding his miraculous. "Do not let yourself be weighed down."

Princess Virtue ignores the kwami, "You-", she cuts herself off for a moment, she bares her teeth to the brunette quite viciously now, "-are a pathetic excuse of a friend.", her voice begins to break once again, it begins to shake, her eyes teared up, "You don't deserve a miraculous. Much less...the ability to walk away from this.", she concludes, she brings her right hand up to Alya's face and places it over her face and before Alya can respond, she's turned to stone.

"Alya!", Kim's voice cracks, eyes wide.

The heroes are all shocked to their core. All gasp at what just happened.

"Marinette's gone.", Kim says brokenly, "She, she doesn't...she's not there anymore…", The boy releases Noir and sits on his knees, giving up, he couldn't see a way out of this, they were surrounded and he knew eventually the old man wouldn't be able to keep his barrier up.

The Fox opened her eyes, she winced at the sight next to her, "No!", she yelled, "Marinette! Marinette!", she began to plead over and over as the knights began to lift her up to her feet, she recoiled when the girl turned to face her with her empty watery gaze. "Please! No!", her voice begins to crack as she struggles against the knights holding her up. Her heart was racing in her chest, thumping wildly in her ears. "You're better then this!".

Princess Virtue silently reached out, but just before she could touch the blonde's necklace, Fu put his barrier down and Noir's staff extended, hitting her hand before Noir moved the staff towards her in an attempt to swipe at her, which forced her to move backwards.

"Stop, stop this, this isn't what you want to do, Marinette. This isn't you.", Noir spoke now, her staff now reverting to it's regular size. "You don't hurt people, you aren't a villian.", she sat on her knees, she kept her gaze on the teen's feet. "You, you're-"

The last bit of composure Marinette had deep down, finally disappeared. 'This isn't you', the phrase was getting under her skin.

"ENOUGH!", she snaps violently, fists balled up, "You can't tell me what to do or how to feel!", the girl screams back, tears spill, rolling down her cheeks, "No more! No more!", she stomps her foot on the ground furiously. "I always tried to do what everyone wanted me to do! But what about what I wanted to do!?", her voice echoes, the air grows thicker by the second. "Why do I have to feel things I don't want to feel! Why do I have to pretend! Why do I always have to hold back!"

The heroes are all struck silent, neither knowing what to say.

"Why me! Why is this suddenly my life?!", Sapphire eyes continued to spill tears, "It's like this isn't even my life anymore! It hasn't been for such a long time…", Marinette's cracking shaky voice begins to lower. She pants softly, shoulders trembling. She turns her gaze to Fu, "I didn't choose this. This...was done to me.", Marinette raises a hand and slams it once against her chest.

Fu grimaces sympathetically, guilt weighing heavily upon him. Marinette's words weighing heavily upon everyone.

Kagami sucks in a deep breath, she knew this wasn't going to be easy, she knew that the pain, anger and frustration Marinette felt was deep seeded, but she hoped and continued to cling to that hope, hoping that Marinette was still within reach.

The akumatized teen huffed and puffed, she reached out and a knight gave her, her sword back. "I'm done losing.", she concludes. She wanted to win, to defy the odds just once, despite it being for the wrong cause. It was sickening to think about, but she was through with everything, losing, hurting and holding back, she could finally let it go.

Kim releases a shaky breath and stands up, he gripped his staff tightly.

Fu sighed deeply and came to a conclusion of his own. Concluding that Marinette was indeed gone.

Kagami got into fighting stance, yoyo in hand, she mentally prepared herself to do whatever it took to bring her friend back. As for Chloé, slowly but surely, she brought her gaze up, she gave Marinette a quick glance, she felt her chest tighten. She didn't want to give up, she wouldn't, she would do whatever it took.

"Crush them.", The Akumatized teen commanded darkly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, feel free to drop comments/critiques/questions for this first half.
> 
> I apologize for any typos and or mistakes I may have missed.
> 
> Also the summary for this chapter will be the same for the next one. (This chapter and the next one were supposed to be one in the same) XD
> 
> Also, I just wanted to let all of you know, I do read every single comment and it does serve to motivate me, so to all you commenting peeps, Thanks, I appreciate all of you. (And the none commentors) :3


	13. Virtues Of The (Un)yielding P.4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where one door comes to a close, another opens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, I have returned. Sorry for the wait, a lot has been happening in my life...
> 
> I got a whole ass new phone tho...on the bright side right??

_Gabriel tapped a shoe against the floor, he was anxious, nervous even, he wanted this to be over already, he didn't know what it was, but it was frustrating him to not be able to figure it out. "We're so close.", he breathes, all the muscles in his body tightening at once. Was this what triumph felt like? What winning felt like? "Just a little more, she's caught The Guardian.", he announces suddenly._

_"Looks like today is certainly the day, Sir.", Nathalie sighs softly, she too felt anxious, she didn't expect this outcome, hearing from Gabriel that Marinette was indeed stripping miraculouses. It was certainly a surprise to see an Akuma making actual progress._

_"This is the closest we've come.", The man clenches his jaw tightly. "All we need is the Ladybug Earrings and Black Cat Ring, that's all.", he grins his cane tightly._

_They were so close._

* * *

"Master!", Kagami wheezes out as she barely gets to her feet from being slammed against a brick wall, her eyes widen as Fu is taken down and quickly stripped of his miraculous. "No!", she yells as she kicks a knight away from her and tries to run to where Fu is, but King Monkey stops her, grabbing her by her arm.

"Marinette you mustn't!", Wayzz cries out beside Longg, whom too, was pleading.

"Quiet!", Princess Virtue forces her will upon both kwamis, silencing them. She bares her teeth to the two Kwamis threateningly.

Fu groans as he lays on his side, he turns to Kagami, he looks between her and Chloé, "The rest is up to you both.", he says weakly before finally and inevitably being turned to stone.

Kagami reached out, eyes wide and lips parted, Chloé and The Fox both ran towards their Ladybug, grabbing Kagami by her shoulders, urging her to retreat with them while she still could.

Kim by this point, impatiently scooped their Ladybug up and put her over his shoulder, "Let's go!", he yells out as he runs with the girl over his shoulder.

Noir grimaces, she turns to The Fox and wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her against her body, she extends her staff and both follow after the boy and their Ladybug. Momentarily escaping.

"They'll be back.", Princess Virtue says before she could hear Hawk Moth protest. "They have yet to use Ladybug's lucky charm.", she smirks darkly.

It took mere minutes to overwhelm the heroes, it was easy.

Marinette couldn't help but feel just a little proud of herself.

* * *

"Fuck!", Noir curses out, she plops down onto the clay tiles of the roof she landed on.

The Fox sucks in a deep breath, arms crossing over her chest. "We're fucked aren't we?", she begins to pace back and fourth. "God, I...I'm sorry but I didn't think it'd be this difficult, I didn't think this throughly, I...I just...I want to go back home and be with my girlfriend.", She mumbles as she walks to a brick chimney and leans against it. She was scared, she'd never felt so much fear like in that moment when Marinette nearly turned her to stone. Maybe she wasn't suited for this after all.

Noir hums, she lifts her head up and turns her gaze to the blonde, "You're girlfriend?"

"Is that all you got from what I said?", The Fox asks as she meets the teen's gaze. She wasn't ashamed to be blunt about her preferences, especially now. She wanted to go home and just curl up in her bed with her significant other, and she wasn't afraid to voice it.

"Wh- No just-", Noir began to stutter out a response but King Monkey and Ladybug both showing up cut her off. She closed her mouth upon seeing the look on Kagami's face.

"What now?", King Monkey asked, his shoulders caved as he walked behind their Ladybug.

Kagami whom was looking rather disappointed, silently walked to where Noir was, she slowly sat down beside her, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. Not saying a single word.

Chloé sighed softly, seeing Kagami look so defeated wasn't the greatest confidence booster. "We're down two and if we go back, they'll take the rest of us.", she admits. Her gaze returned to her boots. "We're too outnumbered."

"Yeah, we definitely are.", The Fox says. "And the more time we waste, the more time Marinette has to turn others into more knights."

Kagami brings a hand up to her hair, she runs her fingers through it and closes her eyes, thinking. This amount of pressure was something Marinette carried and has carried for quite a long time, for the majority of the time she should have been able to be carefree. She understood where Marinette was coming from, she knew how bottled up everything Marinette felt was, how much Marinette was forced to hold back. It's understandable. Marinette had been dealing with and solving difficult situations for years. She always put others needs before her own.

"What about the Lucky charm?", Noir suddenly asks, lifting her gaze to turn to her partner, to Kagami. "We still have that.", she says, the slightest bit of hope in her voice.

Kagami swallows thickly and nods her head, "Yes we do but…", she begins hesitantly, still hugging her knees to her chest.

"But?", King Monkey butts in, walking to where both girls sat.

Kagami sighs deeply and turns to the boy behind her and Chloé. "Once I use it, I'll have minutes before I lose my transformation. I...I don't know if using it at this point is the best option."

The heroes all fall silent for a moment.

It seems they've hit a deadend and no one knows this more than Kagami and Chloé.

"There's got to be something, guys.", The Fox grunts, looking down to her boots, arms hang stiffly by her sides now, "Ladybug always finds a way.", she mutters.

Kagami winces and so does Chloé. Both feel the pressure mounting more and more, the odds continuing to stack against them. Neither wanting to admit defeat, but both feeling it was somehow inevitable. Both girls were not faring well.

"We can't leave things like this. We...we have to do something!", Panic was clear in the boy's tone, he was freaking out, has been since the beginning. He just wanted things to go back to normal.

Noir growls under her breath after a moment, she gets up suddenly, practically jumping to her feet, "We're going to use the Lucky Charm, Ladybug, it's the only option we have left.", she turns to Kagami, looking down at her, she grips her staff tightly with a hand, she reaches her other hand out to Kagami, she comes to a conclusion, they had to use the Lucky Charm and hope it gave them something useful. "C'mon, we're going back.", she breathes out.

"Noir-", Kagami begins, but the blonde cuts her off.

"We're saving Marinette and this city no matter what. How? I don't fucking know, but somehow, we'll get the job done.", The blonde's lips pressed into a tightly line once she finished speaking, her hand still reached out to Kagami.

Kagami's eyes search Chloé's expression, she sees determination and sincerity, she sees that Chloé has made up her mind. She reaches her hand up and takes Chloé's hand into her own. Chloé pulls her up to her feet.

Chloé was prepared for the worst somehow, and she decided to go down with the city should they fail. What good was she if she couldn't even save Marinette? What good was she if she just allowed everything to continue to fall apart? Someone had to try to put everything back together. Someone had to try to hold everything together. Ladybug- no, Marinette, always found a way.

The Fox and The Monkey turn to each other. Fear evident in their gazes.

Kagami tries to calm herself, she feels her hand shaking in Chloé's own, she feels her chest tighten. She didn't know where all these mixed emotions and hesitation came from. She'd never felt these things before. Was it because Marinette was involved? She cared for her, of course she did, she grew to love her like a sister and this entire situation was devastating. She was hesitating and holding back because she was afraid, she didn't want to mess up, she didn't want to fail Marinette.

"You two can run away if you want. But me and Ladybug are seeing this through to the end.", Noir spoke firmly, she turned to the scared duo, facing them, her hand giving Kagami's hand a small squeeze. "After all, our families live here too.", Noir continued. "If this city falls, if Hawk Moth wins, we'll lose so much more than you can imagine.", Sapphire eyes search the eyes of the two heroes before her. "You can go down fighting, trying, or you can just sit and wait for defeat to come for you. You choose."

With Noir's words hanging heavy in the air, Noir turns around and releases Kagami's hand, she turns to Kagami and gives her a nod to which the Tsurugi returns. Noir extends her staff and leaves, Ladybug throws her yoyo and follows after Noir. Both teens are gone, going in the direction they last faced off against Marinette. Leaving both of the hesitant heroes behind.

* * *

There's no blindfold anymore, she faces the world head on, an added sense of clarity looming over her as she stood in place, waiting for the heroes to come back. She knew they'd come back. Because she always did. She purposely left herself open for an attack, her knights were scattered about, walking around, or merely searching for people to use to bait the heroes out of hiding faster. Marinette couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed in herself, but the feeling is greatly kept at bay by her feeling disappointed in how the events in her life have transpired. She was wronged, despite all the good she's done, despite everything she's done for others. She just couldn't catch a break.

"Marinette!"

Two voices echoed in the air in sync.

Sapphire eyes immediately look up, "Back already?", she glances around, but only sees the two heroes out of the four that left. She frowns. "Where're the other two? Sneaking around?", she asks before smirking darkly, "or did they run away?"

Noir and Ladybug both turn to each other and give each other one last nod.

"Lucky Charm!", Ladybug suddenly calls out as she throws the yoyo up. She reaches up to catch whatever saving grace she's just been dealt.

And both Noir and Ladybug are immediately struck with confusion.

Marinette bursts out laughing as she sees a small key falling into Ladybug's hand and the confused expressions both teens wore. "Amazing!", she says sarcastically. She couldn't help but think about how much she hated it whenever her Lucky Charm gave her something vague.

"A fucking key?", Noir growls through her teeth lowly, she was trying so hard not to give into the urge to simply snatch the key from Kagami's hand and just chuck it.

Ladybug frowned heavily, she felt her heart begin to race once she heard the first 'beep' of her earrings start her timer. She gulped and began to look around, looking everywhere but failing to see what she had to do next.

* * *

_"This Ladybug doesn't seem to know exactly what to do.", Gabriel shakes his head. "Pathetic."_

_Nathalie sighs deeply, she can't help but notice that this is the longest time Gabriel has had someone akumatized for. "Ladybug failing means their absolute downfall."_

_"Exactly. If she fails, they all do.", he smiles to himself, it's bittersweet really. Today was certainly filled with a mixture of emotions. "At this rate, we simply have to wait them out."_

* * *

Kagami is running and running, she's on the verge of a breakdown. She's sweating bullets, running around as fast as she can, trying desperately to find the clue that indicates what she has to do with the damn key. Noir was fending off a handful of knights at a time. Trying to buy her time and space from having to fight any enemies. Noir was even beginning to even clash with Marinette directly.

"Ladybug, hurry up!", Noir yelled as she avoided the sword Marinette was swinging around with a few stunts and acrobatics.

Kagami ran and ran, huffing and puffing, looking around at anything that may need her specific key, until finally she sees it, but at this point, she had a mere minute or even a few seconds, she had to make every single second count and so, she ran desperately to the door of some kind of shop, she sprinted until she reached it, she fumbled for a second before getting the key in and finally turned the key, opening the door, she rushed in and clumsily stumbled and smashed into a rack of…

"Mirrors?", Kagami breaths, sweat running down the side of her face. She looks around and sees another clue, she scrambles to her feet and snatches a small handheld mirror from an open glass display case, she sneered slightly at her reflection. She clenched her jaw and turned around, running back out the door and quickly began to look around just as the fight Noir and Marinette were having was spilling into the street she was on, which fortunately gives her the last clue, she glances at the mirror and then back to Marinette's form. Marinette was the finale thing she needed? "T-That's it?", Kagami whispers to herself before suddenly the most unfortunate thing happens. She loses her transformation suddenly. The kwami nearly falling to the ground, causing Kagami to hastily reach a hand out.

Noir is pushed back by Marinette's brutal sword swings, she gets in front of Kagami defensively, "Shit!", she curses loudly, frustration clear in her shaky voice. She huffs and puffs trying to catch her breath, her gaze flickering between Marinette's face and the ground, she was trying not to stare for too long.

"Kagami?", Tikki whimpered as she fell into Kagami's free hand.

Kagami grimaced, she stared sadly at the small kwami.

* * *

_"Kagami?", Gabriel practically exclaimed, surprise clear in his tone, his mouth agape as he saw the girl lose her transformation._

_"Tsurugi?", Nathalie asked, surprised._

_"Y-Yes...her. But how? How did she get a hold or those earrings!?", Gabriel growls, he's suddenly caught in a predicament, the last thing he wanted to do was harm the girl, after all, he knew her mother. But the earrings...Kagami was all that was truly standing between him and those earrings. Noir was there too, but the girl could be taken care of by the knights._

_Nathalie fell silent, she stood quiet, merely witnessing Gabriel's inner tug of war._

_"Princess Virtue, separate Noir from Kagami, then take those earrings from her, but do not harm her.", Gabriel sighs heavily and deeply._

* * *

"Yes, Hawk Moth.", Marinette responds, monotone.

Noir grips her staff tightly, she looks at the knights spilling onto the street, slowly marching behind Marinette, closing in. "Marinette, listen to me. You need to snap out of it, please.", she breathes. "Please.", she starts to plead with the girl, hoping desperately that she can reach her somehow. "I know it's been so hard for you, I know things have been terrible and life has been so shitty for you lately. But god, this...this isn't you.", Noir closes her eyes as she lifts her gaze to face the girl that once had everything, or at least, the girl she believed had everything.

Marinette stilled for a moment, a frown tugging her lips into a tight line.

Kagami kept her gaze down, she stared at the sad kwami. "I'm so sorry, Tikki.", she apologizes, feeling that this was her fault, feeling that she failed the kwami and everyone else.

"No, no...this isn't your fault, Kagami. This is my fault, I should have tried harder, I should have done something different for her.", The kwami whimpers, crying softly.

Noir hears the conversation behind her, it breaks her heart, the kwami was suffering just as much as Marinette was. She needed to salvage things. She sighed deeply, she sucked a deep breath in and exhaled through her nose, she relaxed, her grip on her staff loosened, she suddenly releases her staff, dropping it and begins to walk to the Dupain-Cheng.

Kagami's head shoots up immediately, her eyes go wide, "Noir!?", her voice cracks, she steps forward but stops herself from following her and begins to step back instead.

Tikki goes wide eyed as well, wondering what exactly was going through Chloé's mind.

Marinette sneers slightly, her eyebrows furrow in confusion, she clenches her jaw for a moment, "What, ready to turn your ring over?", she says, trying to keep her composure, trying to appear unfazed by the fact that Noir was walking towards her, unarmed.

Noir remains silent, eyes closed, she stepped at a steady pace until she nearly closed the large gap between herself and Marinette, she stops just an arms reach away from her and suddenly opens her eyes. "I love you.", her lips parted to let those words out.

And Marinette suddenly goes stiff in place. Eyes locking with Chloé's own, her lips part and close multiple times, she was suddenly unable to speak. Her composure was suddenly shattered, the walls she put up as Princess Virtue were suddenly crumbling. She was visibly taken aback.

Kagami and Tikki's mouths fall open. Both Wayzz and Longg can only look on in mere silence, both internally hoping that the blonde can redeem Tikki's true master.

Noir keeps her gaze on Marinette's face, determined, unyielding. "It sucks, how everyone around you failed you. How everyone hurt you. How you've done nothing but sacrifice yourself everyday, putting everyone before yourself. How no one sees the things you do.", Noir sighs softly, "You're strong and too good, Marinette, you always have been. Don't let Hawk Moth get away with this."

Marinette's lips twitched, she made to speak, but suddenly couldn't. A mix of emotions a little too much to bare began to poor in, it was slowly becoming overwhelming. She frowned sadly and impulsively moved, lifting her arm with the sword, or at least attempted to, a hand firmly caught her wrist.

Noir caught Marinette's wrist, her gaze remained on Marinette's face despite the fact that she was starting to fall under her control. "There's always another way.", she whispers softly.

Kagami looked at Noir's back, wondering how the hell the girl was able to keep her gaze fixed upon Marinette for this long without falling under her influence. Sheer will power?, Kagami quickly chalks it up to. She sucks in a breath and looks at Tikki, she then turns her gaze to the hand held mirror in her other hand and slowly begins to step towards both girls, Tikki and the mirror in her hands.

_"Princess Virtue, why are you hesitating!? Noir is right in front of you! Grab her!?_", Hawk Moth's voice booms.

Marinette too wonders, why was she hesitating? Why was she still holding back?

Noir felt herself growing more and more weaker, her gaze begins to become more and more unfocused and her thoughts begin to get muddled. "Marinette, you aren't alone anymore.", the blonde's grip over the Dupain-Cheng's wrist loosened. "I'm here, I promise."

For a moment, Marinette's head tilts down, her gaze on the floor, she thinks over the blonde's words. Taking them in and taking them apart. She wants to believe her, she does, but everyone so far has let her down , it's just how people were. They were liars, or people who's word held no value. She's been hurt and disappointed enough.

And Marinette once again reverts back to her angered state, she snaps, lifting her head up to meet Noir's gaze, she narrows her eyes and suddenly yanks her hand out from her grip and she steps forwards only to reach her free hand out and grab the back of the Blonde's neck to deliver a powerful knee to Noir's stomach. She winds the unsuspecting girl, a cold distant expression takes over her facial features.

"Ungh!", Noir grunts as she's bent into Marinette's knee.

"Noir!", Both Kagami and Tikki both call out. Kagami stops in her steps. Horror floods in as Marinette finally pushes Noir away only to deliver a brutal front kick into the blonde's stomach, sending the blonde flying backwards, her body sliding all the way to her feet. Kagami and Tikki were afraid. "Oh sh-", her words are cut off by Tikki warning her to run away, warning her that the knights that had been still, were now drawing in.

Noir on the other hand groans, she gets to her hands and knees and shakily stays in place. Her jaw clenches, her teeth gritting. She wanted to be enough. She wanted Marinette back.

"I'm sorry. But I just find it hard to believe in anyone anymore.", Marinette speaks and this time it appears as though…Marinette was in control. "Everyone's always said the same thing, Alya, the girls...they all 'had my back', and yet…", Marinette grimaced, she falls silent for a moment, her gaze not leaving Noir's back. "People are just disappointments.", she mutters to herself. "However, If you really mean your words, you can give me your ring.", she sighs, reaching out a hand to Noir.

Chloé turns to Marinette, "No, I meant what I said, but I won't give you my ring.", the blonde grunts as she gets to her feet, her arm holding her stomach, she lifts her head to face the teen again, she wore a determined expression.

Marinette shrugs, she sighs once more, she closes her eyes for a moment. "If you won't give it to me, than I'll just take it, simple.", her eyes open once more, but as she did so, the look in her eyes changed drastically.

Chills ran down Chloé's spine, she froze in place, she couldn't understand what suddenly came over her. She couldn't move no matter how much she tried to command her body to do so.

Tikki frowns sadly, she could only see the scene unfolding before her, she could do nothing. She wasn't even recharged yet, she couldn't help in any other way. "Marinette.", Tikki whimpered out.

Marinette turned her attention to the kwami, her expression remained stony. She clicks her tongue and reaches out, "Be a good kwami and turn the earrings over to me.", she commands coldly.

Tikki recoiled, she turned away from Marinette's cold gaze, not being able to bare the sight before her, she cowers in Kagami's grasp. She couldn't bare to see her master stare at her so coldly. All the love Marinette once had, was gone.

Kagami's eyebrows furrowed, she swallowed thickly, Noir was all that stood between her and Marinette. If Marinette got to her, she knew she wouldn't be able to do much against her. She would surely lose the earrings and Hawk Moth would be so much closer to doing whatever it is he wants to do. Her and Chloé were on their own.

Or, it appeared that way.

Marinette frowns heavily, she took her hand back and began to step towards the two girls and the kwami, she managed to get a few steps in before she's stopped however. From the corner of her eye, she sees a familiar miraculous holder suddenly coming at her, she turns and swings her sword, but as she does and it seemingly cuts through him, the boy suddenly disappears, vanishing before her eyes and it's right then and there that Marinette quickly pieces together what just happened, she realizes that she was wide open for an attack, she spins around on her heel, but she's just slow enough to get tackled by King Monkey, she's nearly knocked off her feet.

Both Kagami and Chloé are immediately relieved.

"Knights!", Marinette yells out for assistance. When the boy encircled his arms around her.

And the knights spring into action, all charging in at once.

Chloé finally moves and turns to Kagami and runs to her, she bends down for a second to grab her baton as she passes the spot where she dropped it, she takes it and nearly reaches her, but before she gets to her, King Monkey is suddenly slammed into her, knocking her off her feet and winding her.

Kagami yelps and turns to her left to run, but as she does, she sees knights coming from the direction she planned to run towards, she panics and turns to her right to see if she could run, but the direction was also filled with knights. She looks all around them and she realizes they've been circled in, the circle was slowly growing smaller, Marinette was slowly drawing in.

Tikki looks up at Kagami. "The Lucky Charm...Kagami, what were you dealt?", she asks hastily.

Kagami gasps, she lifts the mirror in her other hand, "This.", she breathes and shows Tikki the mirror.

Tikki looks at the mirror, her reflection staring back, she narrows her eyes. She knew the purpose of the Lucky Charm, she knew that it had yet to fail them, to fail her masters, Marinette and all her Ladybugs before. There was a purpose for the item Kagami had. "Did you get the last clue?", she asks.

Kagami nods. "Yes I did, but I don't quite understand it, I...I need Marinette for it to work, but I didn't have time to risk getting too close to truly figure out how the Marinette and the mirror work together."

Tikki grimaces and begins to think, she gives herself one last look in the mirror, eyes narrowing, she then turns to see Chloé and King Monkey stumbling up to their feet, her gaze then shifts over to her corrupted master slowly drawing closer.

And Tikki thinks she's figured it out.

"Marinette...this isn't Marinette.", Tikki breathes and quickly looks at Kagami, "Words will not work. We cannot make Marinette see with our words.", Tikki concludes and begins to explain. "You must show Marinette what she has become. You must make her face herself."

Kagami is stupefied, she was too panicked to piece things together, it was a simple task...or well, seemed simple. She had to get close to Marinette, very close.

"Kagami!", A voice takes Kagami out from her racing thoughts.

Kagami turns to look over her shoulder, "A-Aurore, I think we figured out what we finally have to do.", she says the Fox holders name loud enough for only herself, the kwami and Aurore to hear it, her eyes starting to water up with slight relief.

The Fox holder comes to a halt just an arms reach away, she stares at her skeptically, unsure.

Tikki can sense the uncertainty of the girl before them and while she was not entirely sure she and Kagami were on to something, she needed to encourage the blonde, "The mirror, Marinette must look into it.", she says urgently.

The blonde sighs, looking between the kwami and her friend, a friend that chose her for this fight. "Okay, I think I can get you close, but we'll only have this one chance to get Marinette to look into that thing."

Kagami nods her head.

The blonde sucks in a shaky breath and closes her eyes, she stands still and straightens her posture, her expression turns into a thoughtful one, she holds her flute close to her chest.

"Guys!", King Monkey yelps out, noticing how the two girls were merely standing by.

Noir is also looking over her shoulder to the blonde and the ravenette, wondering what was going on.

Kagami merely remains quiet, she waits despite their time ticking away and hopes Aurore knows what she's doing.

And in moments, blue eyes open, the blonde grips her flute and brings it up to her lips and charges the magic within it and says that magic word, "Mirage!", she swings her flute up and sends the charge above them, a shower of glimmering light rains down upon them all and in the blink of an eye, there is two dozen Noirs and Monkey Kings.

Tikki gasps, she turns to Kagami, "Go!", she yells and jumps out from Kagami's grasp and floats away. She knew that the Mirage would certainly throw Marinette off seeing as she would have to protect herself against Noir and King Monkey.

Kagami nods and breaks into a full run towards the group.

Aurore follows Kagami closely and she makes the Mirage advance against a surprised Marinette who quickly and blindly began to swing her sword around.

Noir and King Monkey quickly sprint in to attack and subdue Marinette while the Knights confusingly dealt with the fake duplicates of themselves.

It takes them moments to finally make direct contact with Marinette.

King Monkey jumps over Marinette, causing Marinette to attempt to turn back to engage him, but Noir cuts her off mid sword swing.

"Cataclysm!", Chloé shouts, calling upon the power of destruction as she charges a distracted Marinette, she slams into her and reaches for the sword, successfully grabbing it and destroying it.

Kim feels grateful when dust slices through the air instead of metal, he catches Marinette's wrist, but as he does, a knight comes up from behind him and he finds his oxygen suddenly being cut when the knights lance is horizontally used to restrain and choke him, he gasps for air and gags, unfortunately releasing Marinette's wrist.

Chloé hears her ring chime, she feels her heart thumping hard and fast against her chest, she knows that whatever Kagami and The Fox came up with, must be worth it, they would succeed, they had to. So, she decides to stay and risk losing her identity as Noir. She grits her teeth as she grabs the wrist King Monkey released, she shoulder charges Marinette and gets her off her feet for a moment before a knight tackles her and Marinette to the ground, two more knights jump in to pile onto them.

Marinette feels herself losing control of the situation a lot faster than she thought she would, she no longer finds herself thinking appropriately, she merely acts.

And desperately Marinette grabs one of the knight's lances off the ground as she rolls out from between her knights and Noir, she stumbles to her feet and without thinking, she turns and swings the lance to the figure that appeared in her peripheral vision, the side of the metal lance slams into the blonde's side, delivering a crushing blow to her ribs, causing the blonde to scream out in agony. Marinette feels no sympathy whatsoever, she sneers when the Fox is crumbled to the floor, holding her side, agonizing. She's distracted by the sight for a moment, until she hears the sound of hasty footsteps draw so close and without thought, on impulse, she grips the lance, turning her body, she thrusts with the sharpened end and...hits someone.

Sapphire eyes meet Chocolate brown eyes.

Time seems to still and suddenly everything just fades away, the muffled screams the heroes and kwamis gave out melted into the background suddenly and quickly.

A shaky hand suddenly places itself onto her shoulder, a pained expression floods the girl's face. Marinette finds reasoning returning, realization slowly washes in, brutally. The shaky hand grips her shoulder tightly, chocolate brown eyes begin to shine with unshed tears. Slowly Marinette breaks her gaze from Kagami's own, her gaze drifting down to her hands, feeling wet warmth suddenly coating them.

* * *

_"NO!", Gabriel yells out._

_Nathalie's shoulders twitched as she jumped back from being startled. "What happened!?", she asked._

_"She...impaled Kagami.", Gabriel says, shock clear in his tone. He falls to a knee, unsure of what to do next, surely, he could fix this._

* * *

Kagami trembles, her knees shaking, she feels a warm numbness starting to come over her, she nearly loses the grip of the mirror in her other hand, but she stands her ground, clinging to the hope that the mirror would fix everything more than ever, knowing that she certainly had no more chances at this point. She steadied herself with the hand she placed over Marinette's tensing shoulder and slowly raises the mirror.

Marinette feels a final wave of emotional distress slam into her, everything dawns upon her at once, she releases a soft whimper, slowly she brings a shaky hand to Kagami's shoulder, her gaze lifting up, only to be met by her own reflection.

"Marinette.", Kagami says shakily and slightly hoarse. The mirror just in front of her, between her and Marinette's gaze. She would not see the Marinette's expression.

It lasts for a few moments, Marinette sees the face that looks back at her, dirt, sweat, strands of hair out of place and a horrified expression painting her face. She sees someone...someone she doesn't recognize. A stranger looks back at her.

Marinette's lips part slowly, eyes widened, and just as this happened, everything moved again, time that appeared to stop, moved, sounds that seemed to be muffled out, became clear, and everything she felt all at once, disappeared.

Kagami pales as she sees nothing changing, Marinette is still akumatized, the knights are still holding the others down, nothing is changing. She loses hope and all her strength disappears. Her knees buck, giving out from under her, she feels the sick sensation of the lance that pierced her, slipping out of her as she fell backwards, the mirror slipping from her grasp and shattering on the floor. Natural human instincts kick in, she places her hands against her bloody gaping wound and she lays there on the cold hard ground, she feels wetness surrounding her. Her vision blurs and Chloé's cries become muffled as she finally loses focus, the last thing she hears is her heart thumping in her ears.

The bloody lance falls from Marinette's bloody grasp. She slowly looks down to her hands, she sees crimson coating them, it's everywhere, on her nails, under them, between her fingers. Marinette feels an odd sensation replacing everything else, she cannot describe it and for some reason, she does not want to.

* * *

_Gabriel is frozen on his knee, speechless, unsure of how to move forward from here. He brings a hand up to his mouth._

_An ominous silence reigns heavily in the spacious room._

_Nathalie can see how distressed the man is, she knows the situation has suddenly taken a turn for the unexpected._

_Gabriel battles with his choices internally, he takes a moment to think about his next course of action, the earrings were right there, the ring was right there too, both within his grasp, he could get them both, undo everything while fulfilling his own wish. It's possible, he's sure. So he begins to speak, ready to deliver his last command to his champion. But just as he does, he's suddenly shut out, disconnected from Marinette. He felt the odd sensation of being severed and taken out of control._

_It's over, he thinks to himself, for some reason, he isn't so surprised._

* * *

Marinette blinks for a moment, she feels something snap inside of her, it's much different from anything she's felt so far, it's deeper somehow. She feels a part of her suddenly disappearing, a feeling of...nothingness fills the void of the piece of herself she felt leaving.

Tikki whimpers, she floats closer, Wayzz and Longg both wear horrified expressions at what had just transpired. The surround Kagami.

"No. It wasn't supposed to be this way.", Tikki sobs as she floats to the unconscious Tsurugi. She presses her paw against the teen's cheek, she sits beside her.

Marinette sighs softly, her gaze lifts from her hands, to the ground, crimson running through the cracks between the concrete tiles. She knows something is wrong, but for some reason, she cannot remember how to properly register what it is.

Tikki looks up to her still master, looking coldly and distantly at them, more tears well up in her eyes.

"Kagami!", Chloé's voice cracks and breaks as she yells out desperately for a response. "Kagami!", she moves, shuffling and kicking, but she cannot get out from under the eerily frozen knights.

And neither can the other teens move, they're stuck in whatever position the knights had them in. Both Aurore and Kim knew something bad happened, but neither could see for themselves. Kim was being forced down, Aurore was agonizing over what she knew were broken ribs.

Marinette slowly begins to step to the kwamis and the Tsurugi. Slowly but surely, the darkness that had turned her into Princess Virtue, melts away as she falls to her knees beside the kwamis and Kagami, her gaze fixated on the crimson running through the cracks, she blinks a few times.

"Marinette.", Tikki whispers brokenly, she sees the akuma oddly floating above, flapping its wings, it remains in place, suspended in the air above Marinette.

Chloé sucks in a breath at the sight of Marinette, clad in dirty clothing and the akuma merely flying in place.

Marinette clenches her jaw for a moment, she swallows thickly and lifts her gaze to the teary eyed kwami, only to be met with fear, wide eyes and recoil.

Tikki's eyes widened, something was not right with Marinette, her eyes, were not her own, they were no longer that lovely sapphire blue. "Are you...Marinette?", Tikki asks shakily.

Marinette's lips were pressed into a tight line as she thought for a moment, slightly confused by the question, after a brief moment of silence she speaks, "Who else would I be?", she says quietly before reaching forwards with her bloody hands, she slowly and cautiously removes the earrings from Kagami's ears, no one but Marinette speaks further. "Spots on.", she mutters and in a flash of light, Ladybug is kneeling where Marinette was, she stands up slowly and turns, yoyo in hand, the Akuma still in place, flapping about. Marinette captures it, but does not purify it right there and then, she begins to back away, leaving the sight.

"Wait, where are you going?", Chloé asks, her voice hoarse as she stares at Marinette's back.

Marinette sighs, ignoring the blonde, she throws her yoyo up and leaves, Wayzz and Longg both follow after her.

* * *

They don't know what it is.

Marinette had fixed everything, undoing the extensive damage that was done. But for some reason, something was still amiss, something was still not quite right.

"Marinette, are you feeling alright?", Wayzz begins to ask questions first. He floats closely to the teen, staring deeply into her newly acquired grey eyes, eyes that held an eerie detached look to them. Eyes that unsettled him.

Longg silently looks on, observing the girl, trying to figure out what was wrong. The miraculous ladybugs should have fixed everything and yet, Marinette was somehow not the same and something told him, it wasn't just a physical aspect of the human that had changed.

"I feel fine.", Marinette answers dismissively as she leans her back against a brick chimney. She takes note of the sun beginning to take it's dip behind the kwamis that were worriedly observing her.

Marinette had changed after being akumatized and it appeared that only Tikki noticed that, this new physical change was not due to the akuma, it was something else...it was their connection, something had happened, Tikki knew great strain of their bond would cause issues, but this...was something else, she knew their bond was struggling, but she did not feel it strain any more than it had when Marinette was struggling with Adrien. There was a different cause to...whatever this was, but she knew their bond played a role somewhere.

"Marinette, we must get you back home.", Tikki suddenly suggests. She waits for her master to look at her.

Marinette turns her gaze to the kwami, she nods.

Tikki continues to search the Dupain-Cheng's face, wishing to see a glimpse of her lively master, but she gets nothing. As much as she wants to get to the bottom of this, she couldn't bare to receive that cold blank gaze anymore for today. Tomorrow would be another day, tomorrow they would see Fu and see how exactly they'd get past this whole thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am deeply sorry for any mistakes and/or/if this chapter wasn't worth it...
> 
> I edited a lot out...I don't even know...like. 
> 
> XD
> 
> Welp, feel free to drop comments/critiques/questions.
> 
> Also, stay safe out there, guys, shits crazy. love y'all. <3


	14. Mind Of Steel P.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She feels empty, she knows something is missing, but while a part of her wants to fix it, another part of her resists.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, hello there.
> 
> Been a bit, sorry, my life's currently gone to hell so...yeah. (I live in America)
> 
> Anyways, I edited this to the best of my abilities, sorry if I missed some mistakes.

It's the afternoon when she wakes up. She had a dreamless sleep, for the first time in what seems like a long time. She gets a decent amount of sleep in and actually feels well rested when she awakens. She doesn't feel any sense of urgency or pressure, she feels...nothing for the first time in such a long time. She merely sits up in her bed and looks blankly at the wall across from her. She has nothing pressing to do, or at least, pressing enough for her to truly...care, her parents urged her to spend the rest of the week out of school and to stay home to 'rest up', she didn't object to her worried parents wishes. But that didn't mean she would do nothing within their home either.

The kwami appeared in front of her, Tikki's concerned expression, was more than enough to tell her that she had something to do, someone to visit.

Marinette sighs and rubs her eyes, she turns her body and gets out of her bed, her loose hair was slightly messy. "I'm going to brush my teeth, I'll get dressed after.", she says expressionless to her kwami.

Tikki silently nods. She settles over the pillow and sits, waiting.

The ravenette grabs a towel, two hair ties and her toothbrush before proceeding to go downstairs.

As soon as her master disappears, Tikki's eyes water up, she pouts slightly, she sighs softly to herself.

For Tikki, a sense of longing and uneasiness settled in the moment Marinette acquired those dull grey eyes. Something about how her master now looked and acted, seemed foreign, alien even. The ravenette was expressionless, cold and distant. Marinette was not acting how she normally did. To Tikki, it felt like her master was a complete stranger. Despite their connection remaining, there was no sense of familiarity between them, it was as though someone else had replaced her master.

* * *

Marinette brushes her teeth, she keeps her gaze down, she merely looks at the running water while she brushes her teeth with the white minty paste, she doesn't rush, she takes her time. She's aware of everything that's transpired, everything that she's done, but her mind does little to dwell on the events, as quickly as it flashes in her thoughts, it's gone. She remembers almost everything that had happened before being akumatized and the raw emotions she felt in those moments, she just can't seem to remember the things she felt while trapped under Hawk Moth's control.

"Marinette?", Comes a familiar voice, her mother, Marinette acknowledges.

Marinette hums, her mouth full of the minty foam as she pulls the toothbrush from her mouth and stills in front of the sink.

"Are you going somewhere?", The woman asks from the other side of the door.

The teen sighs, she puts her toothbrush under the running water, she watches as the toothpaste is removed from the bristles of the toothbrush. She then reaches for a small plastic cup and puts it under the running water, she puts her toothbrush aside and once the little cup is filled with water she brings it up to her lips, once the water fills her mouth, she swirls it about in her mouth, she does this for a few seconds before she spits the water out into the sink, she tastes the mint upon her tastebuds, she steps back as she grabs the towel she brought with her and dries her mouth, her other hand reaching forwards to shut the running tap off all while bringing her gaze up to the mirror before her.

She meets the gaze of her reflection, unfazed somehow, unsurprised and unbothered by the fact that her reflection was different than it was yesterday morning.

"Marinette? Sweetie?", her mother's voice cuts through the silence.

She drapes the towel over her shoulder, "Yes, I'm going out, I need some air.", she merely says, her tone bland, her gaze still fixated on the eyes that looked back at her through the mirror.

"O-Okay, sweetie.", The woman's voice seems to shake slightly. Her tone filled with concern.

Marinette remains put, still, for a moment she allows herself to take in her image before lifting her hands only to dip them into her loose hair for a moment, she stares at herself silently, her eyes flicker to the hair ties around her wrist. She releases one last sigh before once again meeting her reflection's gaze, her hands fall to her sides, she merely grabs her toothbrush and turns to the door in one swift motion. Reaching out, she grabs the door knob and turns it, opening the door, she exits the bathroom.

"Marinette?", A deep voice speaks softly.

Marinette halts in her steps towards her room's stairs, she partially turns around, looking over her shoulder, she sees her father looking at her worriedly, hesitantly. "Yes?"

"Um.", He begins, he clears his throat, he looks exhausted. "Are you going to eat breakfast?", he manages to say. "Your mother and I made your favorite.", a small hopeful smile forces itself upon his lips.

She isn't hungry, but decides to eat something anyways, "Sure, I'll be back down in a bit.", she replies with a shrug.

The man nods and turns to walk down the hallway leading to the kitchen, he seemed happy with her response.

Marinette turns back to the stairs leading up to her room and makes her way to them.

* * *

Fu is at a crossroads. Marinette had finally hit rock bottom, there was no doubt about that. But he knew that from this point forward, more miraculouses needed to remain in circulation. He would not strip Marinette, despite Wayzz once again beginning to advise he does so. He had faith and he would continue to hold onto that faith until Tikki spoke up. Marinette had managed to redeem herself, everything was fixed and while he has yet to see any of the teens or their kwamis and understand how Marinette came back from being akumatized, he still believed Marinette capable enough. He knows though, the depth of her hurt and he knows that moving forward he would have to do better, to give her more guidance or support. Until the battle against Hawk Moth reaches its end, he would give Marinette more people to rely on.

The Fox, The Monkey, The Dragon and The Black Cat, will be at Marinette's side now, surely, everything will get better and Marinette's hurt would be able to mend. Surely.

"Master.", Plagg's voice pulls the man from his thoughts.

Fu hums, he and Wazz both look up from the makeshift table in front of him. "Plagg-", he begins, but just as he does, more voices come.

"Master.", another voice chimes in, then two more.

Four kwamis suddenly flew in through the closed window.

Fu raises an eyebrow, "Hello, all of you.", he greets them, his gaze flickers to Wayzz, whom merely shrugs. "What brings you all here?", he asks.

"Everything.", Trixx cuts in abruptly. "Your Ladybug nearly killed-"

"Trixx!", Longg floats in front of his fellow kwami, "It was not on purpose.", he says, knowing that Marinette was not herself. Kagami while fatally wounded, recovered due to the miraculous ladybugs, she was not angry, she did not blame Marinette at all, Kagami urged the other holders and kwamis not to push blame upon her. He would stand by that and try to keep peace.

Xuppu groans, "She nearly did us all in. She's a huge risk.", he says.

Fu sighs. He knew to expect this, to expect the other kwamis to grow uncertain and unsure.

"She's dangerous.", Trixx growls insistently.

Plagg groans in annoyance, this whole thing had spiraled downward the moment Marinette was without a decent Black Cat and while a part of him agreed that Marinette was turning into a potential problem herself, he still believed she was capable. Marinette had Chloé and Kagami now, she was getting better, things could still be salvaged, Marinette could still be salvaged. "Marinette has been through a lot, she was alone for a while and had to deal with a lot on her plate, she's only human, she makes mistakes too.", Plagg speaks in Marinette's defense. "Let's not forget, she's still just a kid. They're all kids.", he says.

The kwamis all fall silent, taking in what Plagg was saying.

Fu merely looks on.

"Marinette has avoided being akumatized many times, she's fought against her most basic human reactions for so long. Holding this whole thing against her is unfair, she made a mistake, she managed to bounce back.", Plagg huffed, he understood the doubt, the uncertainty, he did, he too felt those things at one point. But he came to understand that Marinette was a child when she was first dealt all these issues and while she grew from every experience, she was still, a child. Marinette was still growing and still learning. It wasn't her fault. "My first master betrayed her, he hurt her in a way I know still hurts her, then everyone else she knew just...abandoned her, she had to deal with Hawk Moth alone for a bit, she bottled everything up, she carried the weight of it all. Alone."

The kwamis angry expressions began to dissolve. Sympathy settled in.

Trixx sighs out and floats to the table, he settles down and sits silently.

Longg merely releases a sigh of relief. Relived that the kwamis were no longer irritated.

Xuppu wore a downcast expression, he acknowledges everything Plagg has said.

"I understand the concern and worry. I do.", Fu finally speaks. "But there is no need for it, I've put you all in circulation to assist Marinette, to help ease the pressure on her shoulders. Chloé and Kagami are close to Marinette, they care for her greatly and I am certain, they will continue to support her however they can.", the man is certain, he just knows. From how Chloé and Kagami took initiative and tried to take control of the situation, Fu could see how sincere they truly were. While it appeared Marinette was dealt the worst possible cards in her life so far, things have a reason for happening. Sometimes to create, one must destroy. Marinette's circumstances may very well be on their way to changing for the better. "I believe we have found the best team yet. I suggest you all grow familiar with your holders, tighten your bonds, trying times are always around the corner, getting through them together is important.", he looks between Trixx, Longg and Xuppu.

Wayzz sighs softly, glad the others have calmed down. He had his doubts, but he would continue to see how things rolled out. Uneasiness still weighing heavy in his stomach.

Plagg nodded his head. "My new master and I have formed a bond, she's integrating well into the balance.", he mentions.

Fu nods his head. "I had my doubt about her, but Chloé has more than proved herself worthy of another chance. I'm glad that she's changed for the better."

Plagg nods his head enthusiastically.

A forlorn expression settles over Trixx's face, he's still upset, his new holder was bratty, not exactly the definition of brave. It was a bit of a let down. But he knew he hardly had a say.

Xuppu on the other hand, liked his holder, although a bit hesitant, he had his reasons, Kim made a mistake and was trying to rectify it. Xuppu could understand that. He hoped that Marinette would too once the dust settled.

Longg had no complaints, Kagami was definitely someone he wanted to be paired with, she was loyal, kindhearted and genuine. His holder was definitely a good pick.

They were at five holders now. Surely, Hawk Moth's fall was inevitable and just over the horizon.

* * *

Chloé and Kagami had a very deep talk, a heart to heart after a decent amount of sleep. Kagami and Chloé had slept together, they stayed in Chloé's room, it was awkward at first, waking up and seeing each other first thing, but after a few moments, they just sort of pushed the awkwardness aside and talked...about everything.

Chloé cried slightly, having thought that Kagami was gone, she voices it, her voice shakes slightly in the dim darkness of her room, she tells her about how she felt in that moment when she saw her go down in a puddle of her own blood. It was unnerving and unlike anything she's ever felt.

Kagami listened, she understood, she remembered being afraid, she remembered thinking about everything she's done so far in her life, how unfulfilled she felt going down and how upset she felt that, that was how her life would just end...on that note. She didn't blame Marinette for it, for being put through that odd experience, the whole 'seeing your life flash by'. She knew that as much as this event impacted her, it must have impacted Marinette as well. If she remembered.

The sun's rays shine through the closed curtains, illuminating the slightly dark room. Both teens laid on their backs, facing the ceiling as they continued to talk.

Kagami knew her mother must be going out of her mind, looking for her, calling her. But something clicked yesterday, Kagami, like Marinette, was not living for herself. Kagami was tethered to her mother's words, everything she did, was for her mother, she never did something...for herself. It's unnerving to her, just now actually realizing it, just now having it put into perspective. It felt liberating to be there, here, beside Chloé. Doing nothing but talking and taking a day out from school. Life was too short.

Chloé notices the thoughtful expression on Kagami's face when she turns to her, she seemed like a different person for a moment. She sees those brown eyes shining with unshed tears. "What's wrong?", Chloé asks. Staring at the side of Kagami's face.

"Everything…", Kagami breathes, she turns to Chloé with watery eyes. "My whole life...I always thought I was happy. But...I'm not, I don't think I ever have been. I mean...I've felt proud of my achievements and accomplishments but...I think I only felt that because my mother felt that.", Kagami explains. She thinks for a moment, remembering all those times she looked up to see her mother's reactions to the things she's done, whenever she saw her mother smile, she smiled, simple. She's never done something where she's been the first one to smile, where it was her own reaction that truly mattered.

She's taken aback, surprised even. Kagami always seemed to have it good, but then again, so did Marinette. Chloé feels a familiar feeling coming over her, a need to comfort someone. She shifts in the bed, turning onto her side, she faces the Tsurugi and reaches down, she takes her hand into her own. "You're not alone there.", Chloé sighs softly. "At least your mother notices you. Mine...could care less about me, I've slowly come to realize that.", it hurts, to actually admit it outloud, but there was no use in avoiding the reality of it, the only thing that nagged her sometimes was why? Her father loved her, he did everything for her, but sometimes...seeing how her peer's parents both loved and supported them, got to her. She wondered for a while, tried different ways of gaining her mother's affection...but nothing came of it.

Kagami shifts, turning to face the Bourgeois fully, "I guess we all have our issues huh…", she says softly. She gives the hand that slipped into hers a soft squeeze.

Chloé nods. "We have each other though, none of us have to be alone…", she says sincerely, her eyes searching Kagami's own.

Kagami nods. "We do."

Chloé smiles weakly. Then a thought pops up among her thoughts. "We should get up, and see if we can find Marinette…she hasn't called or replied to any of my texts."

The Tsurugi nods, "Marinette must be beating herself up right now.", her eyes widened for a moment as realization dawns upon her.

Chloé nods. "Knowing her, she definitely took everything in, the fact that she was akumatized must be eating at her.", she begins to shift, sitting up, letting go of Kagami's hand.

Kagami sits up as well. There was a lot on her mind, but Chloé helped her vent some of it, she felt relieved and a sense of clarity, "Definitely. She's going to need us.", she turns to Chloé.

Chloé nods. "Yeah.", her expression becomes serious suddenly. She shifts and slips out of the bed, she's barely a step or two closer to her closet when Kagami speaks up again.

"You really care about her, huh.", Kagami says softly.

Chloé freezes in place for a moment, warmth immediately washing over her face, she feels her cheeks begin to burn.

Kagami smiles from behind the heiress, she had her doubts, she worried about Marinette being backstabbed by Chloé, but as it turns out, she had nothing to really worry about, Marinette was in good hands, had been for a while. Chloé was actually a kind person. Maybe all of this happening was a good thing, she got to see Chloé in a different light, this would be good in the long run, all of this. "Back then, was that a confession?", she asks cautiously.

Chloé feels her heart speed up, she swallows thickly and brings her hands up to her stomach, she begins to fiddle with her fingers.

"I won't say anything...if Marinette doesn't remember it…", She assures her. Kagami would certainly push them together if Marinette was interested...not now of course, but after...when they've dealt with the emotional aspect of the impact the latest akumatization had on them.

Chloé hesitantly turns around, her lips pressed into a slight frown, she grew a bit pale.

Kagami smiled softly at the scared look Chloé was giving her. "It's okay, if you meant what you said...in that way.", her expression is soft, she wants to let Chloé know that she can be a friend.

Chloé sucks in a breath and releases it, "I...I did mean it that way. I-I…", for the first time in a very long time, Chloé finds it hard to speak, she stops fiddling with her fingers, she drops her hands to her sides, "I love her. I'm in love with her.", she says slowly, averting her gaze.

Kagami smiles more widely, "I see.", she answers softly, she's happy, happy to hear that, because in all honesty, she's pretty sure Marinette feels the same way, or at least, some form of deeper affection for Chloé. Throughout the entire time she and Marinette grew closer as friends, Marinette never stopped talking about Chloé. It was hard not to see the genuine affection glow in Marinette's expression whenever she spoke about the latest thing Chloé and her had done together, even if it'd been the most simplest thing. Marinette truly enjoyed the time she spent with the blonde.

Kagami certainly looked forward to where everything would go. She had gained an odd sense of clarity from everything, Chloé was as genuine as Marinette made her out to be, Aurore and a boy were now on their team, surely, together they would persevere, triumph over whatever trying times came next.

* * *

Tikki had slipped off in search of Fu as soon as they left the home, Marinette merely walked about, hands in her pocket, waiting for Tikki to return to her to lead her to wherever Fu now stayed. She was aware of the way Tikki kept her distance from her, the way Tikki looked at her as if she were a stranger. Marinette couldn't exactly blame the kwami, for she too was a bit at a loss, she felt off, she was conscious about it, she knew she was not okay, knew that something was missing from her, but she just couldn't put a finger on it.

All she knew at the moment was that she felt an odd sense of nothing, a sense of no purpose, no urgency, no worry. The mess of things she felt yesterday were starting to become a blur, a distant memory despite how recently things had taken place. It's uncomfortable yet comfortable, she's aware of what's lacking, but cannot bring herself to dwell on it for too long.

She's not interested in it.

She sucks in a deep breath and exhales, taking in the fresh air of the outside, she leaves her thoughts, her mind calming and going quiet as her attention is drawn to the view before her. Clear dull sky, birds flying about, chirping lively. Despite feeling as though she was looking through a filtered lense, Marinette feels something akin to ease despite the blow of the cool air that pushes past her. Step by step, left foot, right foot, she makes it to a bench at a park, she plops down and sits back, leaning her back against the cool metal. She looks around, seeing small toddlers waddling about, their parents holding their hands, guiding them. It's interesting to Marinette. She sits up straight and leans forwards a bit, she looks on, observing a specific trio of figures, a mother, father and a little girl. She sees the father kneeling beside the wobbly toddler, egging her on to take more steps forwards while the mother holds the child's hand. Marinette watches closely.

The child, stumbles and nearly falls forwards. Marinette sighs, the parents try to egg their child on further, but the child merely breaks out into a fit of crying.

Crying.

Why was the child crying? Marinette raises an eyebrow, the thought enters her mind as she finds herself leaning back against the cool metal of the bench, she ponders for a moment, thinking, what reason did that child have for crying? She did not fall and did not seem competent enough to understand something like failure. Marinette brings a hand up to her head and rubs her temple, closing her eyes. The cries of the child becoming distant, a few moments of silence come in, but only for a moment, before Marinette stops rubbing her temple, she feels something suddenly settle onto her knee. She opens her eyes and finds a Whinchat sitting on her knee, staring at her.

Marinette removes her hand from her head, she raises both eyebrows now, she locks eyes with the small creature, a silence building between them as the bird only tilts it's head side to side every few moments. She stares at it for what seems like forever, before she finally lifts a hand and slowly reaches out with her index finger, inch by inch, the tip of her index finger draws closer and closer to the bird until finally, the tip of her finger makes contact with the top of the bird's small head, she taps it, gently. Unsure of what else to do. The bird suddenly sits completely, its eyes shut as if enjoying the soft tapping on its head.

Fascinating.

Is the new thing Marinette thinks. Awe suddenly comes over her, she feels something else, something warm coming over her as she begins to use more than the tip of her finger to touch the small creature, she eventually lays her whole hand over the bird, she pets it, until she's interrupted.

"Marinette?", Comes a familiar voice.

Marinette hums softly and stops petting the bird, the bird is seemingly startled and flies away quickly. The Dupain-Cheng sighs heavily and lifts her gaze,turning to the person whom said her name, immediately, her eyes meet deep Sapphire ones, and just as immediate, her breath seems to leave her as her lips part slightly, she suddenly cannot manage any words.

"Marinette.", Sapphire eyes widened, the blonde quickly closes the space between herself and the sitting teen while the girl beside her remained still in place. "Oh god, what happened to you?", the heiress says as she gets beside the Dupain-Cheng and wraps her arms around her, pulling her into her arms.

Marinette stiffens in place, tensing heavily but only for a moment. She doesn't reciprocate but she does relax. "Chloé...Kagami.", she merely breathes out. Her eyes now meeting Kagami's surprised gaze.

Chloé pulled away but only to grab Marinette's face. She inspects the Dupain-Cheng's face, paying extra attention to her eyes, "What happened? I thought...I thought everything would go back to normal?", she breathes out,searching those grey eyes.

Marinette rose an eyebrow, she merely shrugged, she kept the blonde's gaze.

Kagami looked on, wondering what was going on, taking in Marinette's appearance. She looked like a different person, felt like a different person even, her mannerisms were off, she was not her recognizable self.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it.", Marinette says calmly.

A sympathetic expression takes over the heiress's face, "It's not nothing, Marinette.", Chloé says sincerely. She feels an odd feeling brewing in her chest, "Where's Tikki?", she asks.

Marinette silently shrugs.

Kagami's eyebrows furrow, Marinette's calm cool demeanor was becoming unsettling. She knew typically Marinette would be concerned with Tikki's whereabouts, but clearly...something else was amiss.

Chloé is just as taken aback by Marinette's demeanor as Kagami, surely Marinette would worry for her Kwami. "Marinette-", she begins but is cut off by the kwami they were asking about.

"Girls.", Tikki's voice pulls Chloé's and Kagami's attention off Marinette, both turn to see the Kwami approaching them.

"Tikki.", Chloé breathes in relief.

Tikki feels immediate comfort in the blonde's presence, if anyone could help Marinette through this new issue, surely Chloé could, the heiress was already integrating well into the balance, the heiress was almost if not, was, her masters other half. "Chloé.", she says happily, gratefulness written all over her face as she drew close to the blonde and landed onto an open hand Chloé held out for her.

Marinette sighed softly, merely looking on.

Tikki sat in Chloé's palm and turned to Kagami and smiled warmly at her. "The master would like to see you two.", she says softly.

Kagami draws closer, "What about Marinette?", she asks. "What happened to her?"

Tikki seems a bit startled by the question, a little unprepared, but answers. Her gaze flicks to Marinette's empty one. "The Guardian would like to see her too, he wants you two there. With her.", Tikki merely says, avoiding the question.

Chloé looks to Kagami, both share a concerned look.

Things were just never simple.

* * *

Wang Fu seems to be out of answers on this one.

He didn't expect this to have happened. He knew that there were consequences for a strained bond, but this, whatever this was, Tikki insisted was different. Something else was at play. They've spoken about this already, Tikki suggesting something that came as a surprise to him. He agreed to Tikki's wish, but still felt the need to assess the situation.

"How do you feel?", Fu asks cautiously, he observes Marinette closely.

Wayzz silently sat beside Tikki and Plagg.

Chloé and Kagami both sit silently on either side of Marinette.

Grey eyes blink for a moment, lips part, "Nothing.", she says, she knows there's a better way to word herself, but she decides that she isn't interested.

Fu raises an eyebrow. "Nothing?", he repeats.

Marinette merely nods her head, lips pressed together.

The man sighs softly and shifts slightly, he rests his hands on his knees, he looks between the trio, but keeps his eyes mostly between Chloé and Marinette, for the temporary change that Tikki and him decided upon, would affect them most.

Tikki and Plagg both look at each with saddened gazes before speaking up themselves.

"The balance has not strained anymore than it was, in fact...it's mending.", Tikki starts, she avoids meeting Marinette's gaze.

"But just because it's mending doesn't mean that everything is okay...we...Tikki and Master Fu have come up with temporary solution to what may be happening with Marinette.", Plagg continues, he then turns to Fu.

Fu nods at Plagg and brings his gaze back to Marinette. "You were akumatized while bonded to Tikki and while you've purified the akuma, some sort of after affect lingers and I believe for now, the best thing to do to avoid a...potential corruption of the earrings of creation, you will no longer act as Ladybug, Marinette.", the man observes the teen, searching for any emotional response. But nothing.

"I understand.", is Marinette's response. She wears a stoic expression.

Kagami and Chloé both stiffen, their eyes widened, both already parting their lips to object, but neither gets the chance to.

Fu raises a hand to keep the girls from speaking, "This is a temporary measure. While you will no longer hold Tikki, you will be given Plagg.", Fu continues, "Chloé will be given Tikki and will be taking the role of Ladybug."

Chloé gasps, she wears an expression of disbelief. "What? Why? I-I can't just be Ladybug I-"

"It has to be you, Chloé. Marinette and you are both two halves of a whole now, you and Plagg have bonded well and me and Marinette still share ours, there wouldn't be any repercussions if you both switched.", Tikki explained.

Plaggs sighed deeply. "Marinette has had to go through a major shift in the balance once, my old master fractured it and it was affecting Marinette, she may not be able to endure another sudden shift, you are already apart of the balance, taking you out of it so suddenly when you just got in...would potential do harm...a lot of harm.", The Kawmi wears a serious expression as he explains more. He knows Chloé's bound to buckle, she'd do it, surely.

Marinette sighed softly, for the first time since being here, a thoughtful expression settled in. Fu rose an eyebrow, wondering what was going through Marinette's mind.

Chloé sucks in breath, she's willing, of course she is, but she didn't want to cross Marinette, she turned to Marinette and gave the side of her face a glance, she then returns her gaze to Plagg and Tikki, she sees their pleading expression and gives in, nodding. "I'll do it, of course I'll do it. But how will this fix...whatever's happening to Marinette?"

Fu brings both his hands to the table and sighs once again, "It's speculation, but myself and Tikki believe that it's in Marinette's best interest as well as for the balance's own, that the both of you swap miraculous because we believe this may be as simple as some sort of side affect to a long term miraculous wielder being akumatized.", he speaks again. Tikki had brought the suggestion up, she explained to him why she believed this was for the best and it made sense. Marinette was a very emotional person and suddenly she was lacking emotional depth, as if she was stripped of it, Hawkmoth had caught her while she was at her worst emotionally, the akumatization may have triggered something they have yet to understand.

Only time will tell how this new arrangement will do.

* * *

It's just about the end of the school day when Marinette and Chloé both get to the top of Marinette's home, both having already switched their miraculouses.

"Claws In.", Marinette says, she sighs softly when her transformation disappears. She stands before the new temporary Ladybug. "So I guess this is how it's gonna be for a while.", she says, finally saying more than four words.

Plagg silently floats to a potted plant and sits beside it.

Chloé smiles lightly, feeling a little happy to hear Marinette speak an entire sentence. "Just for now.", she says as she puts a hand over her arm, hugging it to her side, she feels her heart speed up slightly, she feels a mix of emotions wash in, she was finally alone with Marinette.

Marinette shrugs, she blinks and breaks her gaze off of Chloé's own, she crosses her arms and turns her gaze to the plants that lined one side of the balcony, she stares at them blankly.

Chloé's smile falters, she sees how distant Marinette's expression is. She doesn't recognize her and it hurts. "So...um, I know this may not be the time but...I was wondering, do you remember anything?", she asks, swallowing thickly.

Marinette raises an eyebrow and turns to Chloé, "Not really, just...the things that happened before…", her voice trails off slightly, her eyes looking to the floor. "Why?", she flicks her eyes back up to meet the heiress's own, she sees a strange downcast look filling those Sapphire eyes.

The blonde tenses, she lifts both arms and hugs them over her chest, "Oh, um, nothing, I was just curious.", her gaze falls to the floor. A part of her is relieved while the other part is hurt. She knows people tend to forget the things they do while under Hawkmoth's control, but a little part of her was hoping that maybe, just maybe, Marinette would remember her confession. It's selfish, she knows, but she couldn't help herself.

"Are you okay?", Marinette asks suddenly.

Chloé lifts her gaze after sucking in a shaky breath, she sees Marinette staring at her, a hint of something recognizable in her eyes and it gives her a little comfort, she feels her cheeks flush slightly, "I'm fine, just worried about you.", she replies softly. Not expecting to hear what comes from Marinette next.

"I'm fine, Chloé, don't let what's happening to me distract you, you're Ladybug now, I come second, the mission comes first.", Marinette says in a suddenly oh so cold tone. "I don't matter when we're out there as Noir and Ladybug, taking down and purifying akumas is your main focus.", the teen shifts to let her arms hang by her sides, she stands up straight.

Chloé's eyes widen, she feels hurt, an ache stinging in her chest, "Marinette-"

"My purpose now is to protect you, to ensure that you get your opening to purify any akumas that will come our way. Don't be blinded by emotion.", Marinette sighs when she says the last bit, she closes her eyes for a moment as she lifts a hand, she runs it through her loose hair, she opens her eyes and sees clear hurt written all over Chloé's face.

Her words are harsh, they hurt, each word was like a jab to her heart. She grimaces, "I can't not care about you.", she says softly. "I love you.", she suddenly finds the words just slipping out.

A moment of silence washes in between them, a cold breeze pushes past them. They stand there, staring at each other for what feels like forever.

Slowly, Marinette's eyes widen, but only for a moment. Her lips part, opening and closing, much like a fish out of water. Her cold stoic expression melts away. She knows that Chloé's words has two different meanings, but she somehow already knew exactly how Chloé meant it, the look in her eyes gave her away. Marinette feels something brewing in her chest, it's uncomfortable, she doesn't like it, it's the first time today that she's felt _something_.

Chloé blushes, she feels her heart aching in her chest and she hugs herself a little tighter. She suddenly felt so cold and so alone.

"We can't, Chloé.", Marinette finally speaks. "Just like Chat Noir...I can't love you back.", her voice suddenly has...a different tone to it, it was no longer that cold distant voice that Chloé couldn't recognize. This time, it sounded like Marinette. "We're friends and now we're partners, but that's all we can ever be."

Chloé feels tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, she feels a lot of emotions washing in, all mixed up into a jumbled mess, she keeps her gaze down, too scared to meet Marinette's eyes for fear of breaking down.

"I'm sorry that I can't love you back.", Marinette speaks again. She attempts to step forward but as she does, Chloé steps back, she lifts her gaze, tears dancing in her eyes, she lifts a hand and dismissively waves it off. Marinette feels that uncomfortable feeling grow and weigh a little heavier in her stomach, she winces.

"It's fine, I'll get over it, don't worry about it.", she says weakly, trying so hard to remain composed. "I'll uh, see you whenever I guess. Um, bye.", her voice crack as she says 'bye', with that, she's quick to the her leave, throwing the yoyo out and jumping off the balcony, she disappears within seconds.

Marinette remains standing in place, the feeling continues to bubble and brew in her chest. She reaches up to her chest and clutches the front of her shirt tightly, her grip growing shaky. She narrows her eyes slightly as she feels a familiar sensation in her eyes.

"You didn't have to be a jerk.", Plagg says softly.

Marinette slowly turns to the kwami, she sees his sad gaze, he blinks slowly at her, a small frown on his face. "I wasn't...being a jerk. I just...I didn't want her to think that there was a potential-"

"Why not?", Plagg asks, cutting in, "I...I know I'm not good with human things, but I'm not dumb or blind, I know you care about her too.", He says. "Or at least...did.", he had seen the two interacting, it was different compared to how Adrien and Marinette interacted. He knew Chloé had feelings for Marinette, it was obvious, but what was becoming more obvious was the fact that Marinette also reciprocated Chloé's affections. They bonded and grew closer. Marinette, like Tikki had explained before, was a human with so much love to give.

The teen releases the front of her now wrinkled shirt, her arms hanging by her sides, she stands there in silence for a moment, thinking until she comes to some form of a conclusion. "I'm supposed to take Hawkmoth down, I'm supposed to retrieve the lost miraculouses, I can't afford to fail. I'm in too deep, as long as I hold a miraculous, I have one goal and that is to take Hawkmoth down for good, so that Paris and everyone living here can be safe again. My emotions have done nothing but jeopardize the safety of everyone I was trying to protect, even if some of them hurt me. So long as I don't become attached to something...everyone will be okay."

Plagg is merely awestruck, Marinette was obviously punishing herself for becoming akumatized. Could Marinette have unconsciously done whatever it was that was happening to her, to herself? Plagg couldn't help but think. The girl was clearly denying herself anymore emotional attachments.

Their conversation ends there, Plagg doesn't find his words quick enough, Marinette turns and leaves, opening the trap door to her room and slips in.

* * *

Chloé's landing is less than graceful once she gets to her place, she stumbles forwards and falls to her knees, breaking down. "I'm so stupid.", she growls out in frustration, tears running down her cheeks, she's on a hand and her knees, her other hand is over her chest, balled up. "I should've kept my mouth shut.", she sobs brokenly.

She remains by the pool, unable to find it in herself to stand up just yet. "Spots off.", she whimpers softly. Her transformation immediately disappears and Tikki appears.

"Chloé! What happened?", Tikki gets to Chloé's side, wanting to comfort her.

"I...I told her I loved her.", Chloé screwed her eyes shut. "God, I'm no better than that asshole, Chat Noir. I should've just stood shut, I-"

"Chloé, Chloé, relax, it's okay, you can't help who you fall for.", Tikki said, tears gathering in her own eyes. "My master, how did she react?", Tikki couldn't help but ask.

"She said she couldn't love me.", Chloé finally opened her eyes, she lifted her head to look at the kwami, her lips quivering.

Tikki frowned sympathetically, "I'm so sorry, Chloé.", is all she can say.

Chloé sucks in a whimper and shifts to sit onto her knees, "I'm such a screw up, it's like I'm just naturally inclined to screwing everything up."

Tikki sighs softly, she draws closer to the teen, "No you're not. You're only human, you feel things, you're supposed to.", she says sincerely. "Don't beat yourself up over having feelings for someone."

Chloé swallowed a sob, she nods her head, her lips pressed into a tight line, tears continuing to run down her cheeks. It hurt, it hurt so much, but she knew that what Marinette said, went. She would respect Marinette words. She had to pull herself together and work through this.

Tikki observes the teen, she's hurt too, she knows that Marinette isn't herself and she feels that things may have gone differently if circumstances were different, if Marinette was herself. Maybe once Marinette is better, things would change.

Maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope it was a good read. Happiness has no rights I guess. 🤷♀️
> 
> Feel free to drop comments/critiques.
> 
> See you guys next time...


	15. Heart Of Glass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hurt and disappointment weren't new things for her, she always experienced it. While she successfully feigned being happy and unhurt in front of others, in reality, she had a simple heart of glass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp....here's an update...
> 
> Filler anyone?

It hurts, it hurts so much. Chloé can barely breathe without her chest aching. She feels the knot in her throat growing bigger and bigger, it's suffocating. It's been a hard whole week since she was made Ladybug and Marinette was made into her Black Cat. Many reporters were eager to get something out of them, eager to inform the people of Paris on what was going on with Ladybug and what had happened to the original Chat Noir. So much was and has happened. School had been weird since Marinette's akumatization, the class hasn't made a single peep about Marinette. Even Lila has been silent.

Still...

She's never felt so...alone, despite being constantly surrounded by Kagami and some of her classmates, a bubbly Blonde and her friend and a boy she'd already met at some point named Marc. They were nice company, while the group was a little apprehensive around her, Kagami served to ease any worries the trio had towards being around her. Chloé appreciated Kagami, growing to actually like her as a friend. But...there was that emptiness that lingered, the emptiness she carried around her, an emptiness she thought she finally left behind.

Marinette and her weren't talking much. They only spoke when they were out and about fighting akumas or simply patrolling and even when they did speak during those times, it was hardly speaking at all, just mostly small grunts and huffs from Marinette. Chloé missed her, not a day went by where she didn't internally beat herself up for confessing to Marinette at the worst time. She truly regretted opening her mouth that afternoon.

While Tikki and Kagami consoled her, she couldn't shake the feeling that Marinette was purposely pushing her away and ignoring her.

It felt...cruel of Marinette.

But even if Marinette was intentionally being cold to her, she deserved it. She allowed her selfish desire to get the better of her, she betrayed Marinette, she let her down. She had hurt her before, many times, just like she hurt everyone else around her, even the person whom she was supposed to openly care about. She wasn't a good person, she knew deep down the reason she moved in to comfort Marinette was only because she had no one else and that meant that she would be the only person Marinette would focus on.

It was an opportunity.

An opportunity for Chloé to try to right all her wrongs while also trying to court her.

She had many regrets and among them that constantly ate away at her even when she was on good terms with Marinette...was her falling out with Sabrina. She truly took the girl for granted and she would remember that every time the girl silently walked by her in the halls of their school.

She was selfish and she deserved to be alone, to be abandoned.

* * *

She sighs heavily as she shuts her locker door, she locks it up and takes a step back, she sits on the bench behind her, plopping down, she grips the strap of her bag tightly with a hand, she stares blankly at her locker. The school day was over, it was a Friday, so she wouldn't have anything to distract herself from beating herself up internally. She would be alone with herself all weekend unless Hawkmoth decided to send an akuma out. While she had Tikki and Kagami, she didn't exactly want to rely on them or...let them in. Not yet.

"Chloé?", Comes a soft voice. A voice that makes Chloé's head snap up and turn to the owner of that voice.

Sapphire eyes widen, she feels the knot in her throat growing bigger, she feels the weight in her stomach become heavier and she feels the ache in her chest intensify all at once. She tries to open her mouth, but her lips can barely manage to part any bigger than a slit.

A look of hesitancy flashes in Emerald eyes, but peach pink lips part again. "Can we...talk?", the girl asks softly, slowly and cautiously, she fidgets in place, gripping her bag's strap with both of her hands.

Chloé forcefully swallows the knot in her throat, gulping, her trembling lips finally manage to part. "Sabrina…", she breathes the name, her expression falls just a little more, "Uh, um yes…", she says nervously, zero confidence in her voice and her expression. "D-Do you...want to maybe talk at my place?"

The redhead sighs softly, she takes a moment to think before eventually nodding her head, "Sure.", she says.

Chloé doesn't know what to expect from this...what may happen, why Sabrina wanted to suddenly talk after months of silence. But she wasn't just going to deny Sabrina's want for a talk.

…

It's awkward, the air between them is thick with apprehension and hesitance. Both girls sat in silence for what seemed like forever. Neither knew how to start whatever conversation was to be had.

Chloé nervously shakes a leg under the table, she fiddles with her hands in her lap, looking everywhere but at the girl across from her, shame and guilt filling her with each passing second she spent sitting across from someone she had taken for granted.

The silence is deafening and overwhelming, at least, until Sabrina's voice breaks it as well as unknowingly breaking her.

"You're losing weight.", she says suddenly, concern is clear in her voice.

Chloé tenses and freezes for a moment, her leg stopped shaking and she stopped fiddling with her hands, her eyes widened for a split second, slowly she turns her head and her gaze meets the redheads worried expression, the way her eyebrows furrowed upwards, the way her emerald eyes looked at her so...worriedly.

Chloé doesn't know what comes over her, but she breaks, because despite everything horrible she's done, despite so little good she's done…Sabrina was still worried about her to some extent.

The heiress sucks in a deep breath, her vision blurs immediately, she feels the sensation of wet warmth suddenly rolling down her cheeks, she feels her expression fall harder than it's ever had, the way her jaw clenches tightly and her teeth grit together, the way her eyes screw shut and her eyebrows knit together. She can no longer keep the knot in her throat down. She lifts her arm and wraps them around herself, letting her head fall forwards as she held herself tightly and began to cry.

Emerald eyes widened, the sound of a chair falling on the floor came followed by hurried footsteps. The redhead was quick to get by the heiress's side, she placed her hands over tense shaking shoulders. It took a lot of thinking for Sabrina to finally approach Chloé, it was hard but after everything that happened last week and noticing Chloé's sudden and rapid weight loss, Sabrina gave in to her worry and concern. She cared about Chloé, even if Chloé probably never really cared for her, she couldn't help but want to be by her side, they've known each other for such a long time, she knows Chloé pretty well, knows when Chloé's hurting or is annoyed or frustrated. She knows her, right down to her mannerisms and what even the slightest change in her expressions mean.

"What's wrong?", Sabrina asks as she gives the shoulders a small squeeze, "What's going on?"

Chloé only cries harder, bringing her hands to her face, trying to muffle her whimpers and sobs, she leans into the redheads touch.

"Chloé, please-"

"I'm sorry.", Chloé whimpers out, cutting off whatever Sabrina was going to say. "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry.", she whimpered out over and over, her voice cracking.

Sabrina's eyebrows raised and her lips parted. "Chloé-". She begins but is once again cut off.

The heiress huffs and puffs, trying to catch her breath, before she knows it, she slips out of her chair and drops to her knees, kneeling before the girl that's done nothing but support her throughout the majority of her life. She began to do something she never thought she'd do.

"I'm such a horrible person, I never deserved to have you as a friend, I'm so sorry.", she sobbed out on her hands and knees.

Sabrina gasps, her own eyes begin to fill with tears, she doesn't hesitate to drop down to her knees, she wraps her arms around the heiress and hugs her tightly. "Relax, it's okay-"

"No, it's not okay, I hurt you so many times, I mistreated you when all you ever did was support me, you were the only one there for me when my own mother left me.", Chloé choked out her words through her sobs. "I never once thanked you or actually showed you that I cared for you.", Chloé now clung to the redhead and cried into her shoulder. "I deserve this...I deserve everything that comes my way. I deserve to be alone."

Sabrina swallows thickly, she rubs the heiress's back, she feels her chest aching. "No, no, everyone makes mistakes, it's not your fault.", the redhead began to speak, consoling the girl she grew up with. "It's not your fault.", she breathes out more loudly. She knows Chloé wasn't the best person, but she was her first friend, they've come this far and while she was the one that put the majority into their friendship most of the times, there were instances when Chloé was genuine with her. She knew Chloé's flaws were due to her mother leaving her all those years ago, before that incident, she was just an ordinary friendly girl. "I'm not going anywhere, Chloé, I'm here for you, I'll always be here."

Chloé sobs and whimpers, still clinging to Sabrina. Guilt and shame still remained.

Lila was the catalyst to their fallout, she drove a wedge between them, forcing Sabrina to really acknowledge all of Chloé's flaws, the brunette would always catch Sabrina alone and attempt to manipulate her, it never worked, but it frustrated her and also angered Chloé. Chloé's anger however was directed at her, which then resulted in an incident that simply broke the camel's back. Sabrina knew not to trust Lila, while everyone around her all fell for the girl's lies, she and Chloé did their fair share of digging around before they began to fight. Their fights were usually one-sided, mostly Chloé yelling at her, but with Lila pointing out some truths regarding Chloé's attitude and selfish nature, Sabrina began to distance herself from Chloé until she began to argue back.

Sabrina needed the space, she did, she's done some deep thinking and by the end it, she came to a conclusion, she didn't want to let Chloé go, at least not without talking with her...actually talking with her. If Chloé wanted her around, she'd have to try to be a better friend.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry.", Chloé continued to whimper, her cries were dying down.

Sabrina sucks in a deep breath, she wanted to be there for Chloé and right now she would, but when Chloé was in a better place, she would have that real talk with her.

Being there for someone, is just something you do when you love them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry about any typos.
> 
> Feel free to drop feedback.


	16. Dents In Steel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing is truly unbreakable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sup. Filler anyone?

They're talking again. Chloé couldn't feel more better under the circumstances. Sabrina was there again, being her constant and rock. She didn't deserve her, but she would try to rectify that, try to earn her friendship.

She'd prove that she was changing for the better.

"So, Marinette rejected you?", Sabrina sighed softly, a sympathetic look settled over her face.

Chloé nods her head, sucking in a deep breath as she hugged her knees to her chest. Both girls were talking, finally talking after months of silence. It felt like a breath of fresh air to Chloé. "I mean, I don't blame her. I'm me, I wasn't the best person and even when I helped her...I...liked her.", the heiress sighed deeply. Guilt weighing heavily over her. She closed her eyes, shifting slightly on her bed.

Chloé had cleared the air about her alleged relationship with Marinette, Sabrina brought it up, asking about Marinette. She told her about her lie, how she lied to protect both Adrien and Marinette from further scrutiny at the hands of their classmates, from there she spilled more and more, filling Sabrina in on her friendship with Marinette and how...it had been something she'd always wanted but denied herself. She had also managed to properly come out to Sabrina...opening up and finally accepting a part of herself she'd been trying to bury.

"I'm so sorry, Sabrina, I promise, I'm going to make it up to you, everything.", Chloé says softly. "All this time I wasted on trying to be the opposite of who I was.", she blew a breath over her knees.

A soft weak smile curled Sabrina's lips. While a part of her wanted to remain wary of Chloé, cautious, she just somehow knew this time was going to be different, Chloé was being genuine, sincere and vulnerable. She cared too much for the blonde to truly let her go, even if Chloé remained the same, she'd probably still find it in herself to stick around. But...she knew this was real and change was coming, good change. Chloé's acceptance and acknowledgements of her flaws were pivotal in Sabrina knowing for sure that Chloé was being honest.

"I'm so proud of you Chloé.", Sabrina breathes in relief. She turns to Chloé and meets her small surprised watery gaze. "I...care about you, I always have, I always knew you were a good person, but I also knew that you were stubborn, too stubborn."

Chloé listens.

"I love you, Chloé, you're like a sister to me, fighting with you and not being able to talk to you for such a long time and then seeing you in the shape you're in now...it just breaks my heart.", Sabrina's voice begins to shake and her eyes begin to tear up.

Chloé's lips parted, she shifts, scooting closer and stretching her legs out, placing her feet back onto the floor, she's quick to close the gap between them, wrapping her arms tightly around the red head. She hugs her tightly, "I'm so sorry.", she whispers softly, tears rolling down her own cheeks, she closes her eyes.

Sabrina leans into the blonde's embrace and begins to cry, whimpering softly. "Let's never fight again.", she whimpers softly.

Chloé releases a shaky chuckle, Sabrina was too forgiving too fast, she knew this much. But Sabrina's forgiveness wouldn't be in vain, she was going to change for the better.

She was done being something she wasn't, she was done acting cold and fake. She was going to be genuine with people from now on.

* * *

_"I always got your back, girl."_

_"You're our everyday Ladybug."_

_"You are Ladybug, with or without the miraculous."_

_"-I love you."_

Sapphire eyes snap open, a sharp gasp escapes from chapped lips. The sound of the bed giving a sharp creak due to the sudden jolt of movement echoed inside the room. The Dupain-Cheng was sitting up, the sheets pooling in her lap

It was dark, the only source of light inside the room was that of the crescent Moon shining through the window.

Eyes flickered around the room quickly, searching for the Kwami, the sweaty teen sighs in relief when she finds Plagg missing. She huffed, catching her breath, she felt her clothing and hair soaked in sweat. She slowly raised a hand to her chest, clutching the front of her shirt tightly, fisting the material of her shirt. She swallows the little saliva in her mouth, she grimaces as a droplet of sweat suddenly enters one of her eyes. She brings a hand up and rubs her eye. She sits on her bed, rubbing her eyes, mumbling soft curses under her breath before deciding she wanted to go to the bathroom.

She sighs deeply and turns her body, grabbing the sheets with a hand and pushing it off her lap as she slipped out of her bed, she's quick to walk to the hatch of her room, opening it quietly and slipping down the stairs as quickly and quietly as possible. She steps passed her parents room and enters the bathroom, flipping the switch when she closes the door behind her. She releases another deep sigh. She remains standing by the door for a moment longer than she should have, her gaze staring at the open window, she feels the fresh cool breeze from outside pushing into the bathroom, she shivers slightly, her clothing being soaked in her sweat made it easy for her to get cold. She'd make it quick she thought to herself. She began to move again, left foot, right foot. She made it to the sink and immediately turned the faucet, she brings her hands under the running cold water, forming a cup with her hands, she manages to trap water in her hands, she bends down and splashes the cold water in her face, a small gasp escaped past her lips.

_"-I love you."_

Marinette's eyes snap open, her hands immediately grip the sides of the sink, she snaps her head up and is suddenly face to face with her reflection. She sneers at the face that looks back. "Stop it.", she growls in a warning tone, her lips pulling into a heavy frown. "You've done enough.", Marinette whispers harshly. Her grip over the edges of the sink grows stronger and stronger.

No, she wasn't going to give in, she'd remain strong this time, she wouldn't be led astray, she wouldn't be ruled by her emotions anymore.

No.

"No.", Marinette inhaled through her nose sharply. She narrowed her eyes as she felt an ache suddenly weighing heavily in her chest. Her reflection stared back at her just as fiercely, those watery and bright Sapphire eyes stared at her so piercingly. It hurt.

It hurts.

Marinette grit her teeth and narrowed her eyes, "No.", she growls out and suddenly takes a step back, raising a hand from the edge of the sink, she cocks her arm back and and punches forwards, shattering the mirror, she catches the glimpse of her eyes reverting back to silver, she feels the weight in her chest disappear, the emotional pain quickly replaced by physical.

She groans and falls to her knees, her other hand still gripping the edge of the sink, she bought her bloody injured hand to her chest and grit her teeth again, screwing her eyes shut. "Nngh!". Her head hung, she faced the tiled floor. Droplets of blood, sweat and water hit the tiled floor. She huffed and puffed, shifting to lean against the sink, resting her head on her arm, she felt the raw pain of her injury, the pain grounded her immediately, distracting her from the inner turmoil of her wild untamed emotions. Emotions that were fighting to flood back in again. Emotions she was barely keeping at bay.

Chloé's sudden and unexpected confession had thrown a wrench in whatever this was...this whole controlling her emotions by switching them off thing. She knew what she was doing, she wanted to stay this way, she wanted to disconnect from her greatest weakness. But Chloé had destroyed her resolve, her words had came in like a wrecking ball, bringing down the walls she was trying to surround herself with, trying to rebuild around herself.

No matter how much she ignored the heiress and tried to bury the image of Chloé's heartbroken expression, she just couldn't find it in herself to hold onto this new ability she acquired, an ability she absolutely wanted to keep. If things were just a little more simpler and she didn't have all those bottled up emotions of anger and sadness, she would have fought through her emotions and tried to figure things out with Chloé. But things just weren't going her way.

It hurt too much, the weight of betrayal, sadness, anger and...hatred was growing to be too heavy for her.

She loved Chloé, she did, she had that small growing hunch that she was falling for her. She cared for Kagami and her new friends, she did, but it wasn't enough.

The bad was overcoming the good in her, she couldn't afford to be deterred again.

* * *

"What happened to your hand.", Tikki asked softly as she placed her small paw over the bandage that was wrapped around the obviously injured hand. She gently rubbed the area.

Marinette sighed softly, she thought for a moment, her eyes flickering over to Plagg who was shooting her a knowing look. Plagg had seen the damage to the bathroom mirror when he came back, it was obvious what happened, her parents whom had woken up were both babbling messes of worry, their words being heard by Plagg. "It was a kitchen accident.", Marinette says as she leaves her hand beside Tikki.

Plagg rolls his eyes, his ear going flat to his head in disappointment, he remains silent, sitting across from Marinette and Tikki, he was barely eating any cheese from the expensive cheese platter Chloé had brought for him.

"Are you alright?", Kagami asks, her voice and expression filled with worry.

Chloé silently looked on, gazing at Marinette with concern.

"If you're injury is too great, you can take a break, Marinette.", Fu chimed in, "You must not feel pressured to be present for every patrol, your team has grown.", the man placed his cup of tea down onto the table.

Marinette shrugged, her expression isn't as hard or as cold as it has been for the past few days. She wears an oddly tired expression.

Tikki sighs softly as she rubs the injury, she felt left out, she felt out of place. Being with Chloé was nothing like being with Marinette, Chloé was kind to her, but she was having issues of her own. They didn't interact much. She deeply missed her master.

"I need to go, I have matters to attend to.", Marinette suddenly says, blandly. She doesn't wait for anyone to say anything, she merely shuffles up to her feet and stands up, "I also would like a few moments with Tikki, alone. So I'm taking her with me for a bit.", she says.

Marinette's words leave out any room for objections, she merely states the things she says. She wasn't asking.

With Marinette saying what she had to say, she merely turns around and begins to walk out of their meeting place, not giving anyone a second glance, nor waiting for Tikki or Plagg to Move.

Tikki's eyes widen, she shoots up immediately once her Master's back is to her, she doesn't wait for anyone to give her an okay, she simply follows after Marinette.

Plagg groans and shoots the trio wearing concerned expressions a soft grimace before floating up and following after the two, or at least attempting to.

"Stay, Plagg, I need to be alone with Tikki.", Marinette stops as she pushes open the door, halfway out of the room. "You'll know when you can come to me.", Marinette sighs, not bothering to glance behind, she then proceeds to step out of the room, Tikki silently following after the teen.

The room felt ever so heavy.

* * *

"Has any other Ladybug gone through this?", Marinette wastes no time once they've arrived to an empty alleyway, she gestures to her eyes.

Tikki nods, shaking her head. "No, never.", she answers, concern still on her face.

Marinette sighs softly, breaking her gaze off of Tikki's own. She raises a hand and runs it through her loose hair. "I see."

Tikki's eyebrows furrow slightly, she scans over the girls face, observing her. She knows under all whatever was happening to Marinette, Marinette was still there, somewhere. Her master was still there.

Marinette feels the ache suddenly being stirred up within her, she groans in annoyance and screws her eyes shut, trying to fight her feeling down, she turns away from Tikki, bringing her hand down from the tops of her head to the side of her face to obscure Tikki's view.

"Marinette, what's wrong!?", Tikki gasps, immediately seeing distress washing over the girl before her, worry fills her as she notices how Marinette turns away from her, trying to hide it from her. "Marinette, answer me!", The kwami speaks with desperation as she dashes in to be closer to the teen.

The Dupain-Cheng groans again, her shoulders tense, she sucks in a shaky breath, she feels the familiar sensation of tears burning her eyes, "Give me a...moment.", she huffs, trying desperately to contain herself.

The kwami frowns heavily, she closes the gap between them and attaches herself to the other side of Marinette's face, clinging to the area, hugging it. "Marinette, talk to me, please.", she begs. Wanting nothing more than to have an actual conversation with her beloved master.

Marinette's lips quivered upon feeling the Kwami's desperation to know what was happening. "Just…", she internally curses herself as she feels those tears escaping her eyes and running down her cheeks, she crumbles to her knees and removes her hand from the side of her face, but only to bring it to where Tikki was, she brings both her hands up and holds the kwami against her. "It's too much for me, I'm not strong enough anymore, Tikki.", her voice is shaky and quiet, it's slowly breaking.

"You are strong, you are so strong, Marinette.", Tikki says, feeling tears pricking her own eyes.

Marinette swallows thickly and slowly and carefully begins to pull the kwami off of her, holding her gently in her hands. She slowly opens her eyes and meets the Kwami's gaze, she sees the surprise slowly washing in over Tikki's face, she knows that Tikki is seeing her, the real her, the one that was trying to shield herself from anymore hurt. "It's too hard, everything's too heavy for me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for any typos.
> 
> I know I said the next chapter after last chapter would be more hopeful, but uh...yeah, sorry. XD
> 
> But I promise fluff will come.
> 
> Feel free to drop comments/critiques ect.

**Author's Note:**

> So like...hey (Lul)
> 
> This fic will be Marinette/Chloé. 
> 
> Kagami and some familiar new faces will play a major part in this fic as it progresses.
> 
> Lila is her evil self, Adrien is a douche. (They'll both get dragged and exposed.)
> 
> Everyone in Marinette's class are all assholes (but they will regret it later on)


End file.
